Raja HB IX Yang Peduli Leluhur dan Sejar
1
Raja Yang Peduli Sejarah dan Leluhur –
Mengungkapkan Sejarah Rahasia Yogyakarta dan
Madiun
Siapa yang menebar angin akan menabur topan!
“KPAH [Kangjeng Pangeran Ario Adipati] Ronggo Prawirodirjo III, Adipati
Maospati Madiun ke III, dihukum mati sebagai pemberontak melawan
penjajahan Belanda dan dimakamkan di makam pemberontak
Banyusumurup Th. 1810, dinyatakan sebagai ‘pejuang perintis melawan
Belanda’ oleh Sri Sultan HB IX Th. 1957 dan dimakamkan kembali di
Giripurno, makam permaisurinya putri HB II, GBRAy [Gusti Bendoro Raden
Ayu] Madoeretno.”
Mata saya terpapar kepada prasasti marmer di pemakaman di Gunung
Bancak, Magetan, 18 kilometer barat daya Maospati. Pemakaman yang
sunyi dan mentrenyuhkan ini adalah tempat istimewa - sebuah kramat
Jawa dengan suasana yang sesuai nama resmi – Giripurno - gunung dari
akherat. Sungguh teduh dengan sepasang pohon bunga tanjung
(mimusops elengi) yang harum, pohon tersohor dari Mahabharata dan
Ramayana, yang membingkai jalan berombak-ombak menuju ke cungkup
berpilar kokoh bercat putih itu.
A Sense of History
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2
Tapi saya bingung: bagaimana sampai terjadi bahwa jenasah seorang
pemberontak yang dulu dikebumikan di Banyusumurup sebelah tenggara
Imogiri, tempat di mana para durjana dan penghianat raja Mataram
dimakamkan, sampai digali dan disemayam lagi nun jauh di Gunung
Bancak di samping pemakaman istri yang tercinta, Bendoro Gusti Raden
Ayu Maduretno? Mengapa begitu pentingnya Bupati Wedono Madiun yang
ke-tiga dan tragis ini yang tewas pada umur tiga puluh satu tahun – satu
melawan seratus – di Sekaran (Kertosono) di tepi Bengawan Solo pada 17
Desember 1810? Dan siapa diri seorang Sultan ke-9 itu yang mempunyai
persentuhan yang begitu akrab dengan sejarah dan leluhur sehingga
peduli ‘ngumpulké balung pisah’? Toh, pada masa sekarang elit politik
Indonesia terkenal cuek perihal sejarah dan pengetahuannya atas riwayat
bangsa dangkal: seolah sejarah bukan lagi urusan zaman Reformasi ini
dimana kepentingan pribadi dan keluarga adalah nomor wahid!
Tetapi, seperti dinyatakan filosof Spanyol, George Santayana (1863-1952),
‘orang yang tidak bisa belajar dari sejarah akan dikutuk mengulang
sejarah itu lagi’. Sultan ke-9 itu betul faham bahwa antara Yogyakarta dan
Madiun ada semacam sejarah rahasia. Dia pasti ingat bahwa saat
leluhurnya, Pangeran Mangkubumi, dinobatkan sebagai sultan pertama
Yogyakarta setelah Perdamaian Giyanti (13 Februari 1755), dia mengakui
hutang budi kepada sekutu utama yang mendukungnya selama Perang
Giyanti (1746-55). Salah satu tokoh kunci adalah panglimanya, Kyai
Wirosentiko (sekitar 1717-1784), “gagedhug Sokawati”, yang diberi gelar
Raden Ronggo Prawirodirjo I dan jabatannya sebagai bupati wedana
(bupati kepala daerah wilayah timur jauh Yogya) di Madiun (menjabat
1760-1784). Seorang keturunan Sultan Abdul Kahir I dari Bima (bertahkta,
1621-40), Raden Ronggo I itu serba bisa: selain ahli siasat perang dia juga
seorang sastrawan yang pernah menulis sebuah lakon dalam siklus Damar
Wulan - Damar Wulan bégal (1750). Adik perempuannya, Mas Roro Juwati
(pasca-1755, Ratu Ageng), adalah panglima pasukan Srikandi (prajurit
èstri) kesultanan dan permaisuri utama Sultan Mangkubumi. Setelah wafat
sang suaminya (24 Maret 1792), Ratu Agenglah yang mengasoh
Diponegoro muda dan mengasah pemimpin Perang Jawa sebagai seorang
Islam-Jawa yang saleh di kediamannya di Tegalrejo di barat laut Yogya
(1793-1803).
Sebelum Raden Ronggo I meninggal pada 1784, Sultan Mangkubumi
pernah membuat janji bahwa dia dan pewarisnya tidak akan pernah
menyakiti atau menumpahkan darah keturunan Sang Bupati Wedana
Madiun itu, dan jika mereka sampai melakukan pelanggaran, Sultan
senantiasa sudi mengampuni. Tapi hanya delapan belas tahun sesudah
wafat sang raja perintis Yogya itu, anaknya, Sultan ke-dua, mengingkar
janji. Pada 20 November 1810, cucu Raden Ronggo, waktu itu bergelar
Raden Ronggo Prawirodirjo III (menjabat, 1796-1810), memilih
memberontak daripada dibunuh oleh Gubernur-Jenderal yang bengis itu,
Marsekal Herman Willem Daendels (menjabat, 1808-11). Ronggo ke-3 itu
mengumumkan bahwa pemberontakan adalah untuk “membersihkan Jawa
A Sense of History
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dari yang ternoda [Belanda]” dan membela hak orang Jawa dan Cina di
Jawa Timur, terutama dengan melindungi hutan jati dari kerebutan
pemerintah kolonial.
Hanya seminggu sesudah Ronggo ke-3 memberontak, Sultan ke-2
mengirim sebuah perintah rahasia kepada komandan pasukan gabungan
Yogya-Belanda bahwa sekalipun Ronggo ke-3 tertangkap hidup-hidup, ia
serta-merta harus dibunuh. Mengingat janji ayahandanya, Sultan ke-2
tidak mau menanggung malu bila Ronggo ke-3 dibawa kembali ke Yogya
dalam keadaan hidup. Akhirnya, Ronggo dan deputinya keturunan Bali,
Sumonegoro, dibunuh di Sekaran dan jenasahnya dibawah pulang ke
Yogya untuk dipertontonkan sebagai begal biasa dalam keranda terbuka
di Pangurakan utara alun-alun Keraton Yogya. Setelah sehari semalam,
jenasahnya diturunkan untuk dikebumikan di Banyusumurup. Menurut
Diponegoro, yang pernah menyaksikan tindakan keji ini, Sultan ke-2
membuat sebuah “dosa besar” dan sesudah Ronggo dibunuh, Yogya
seperti hilang pembela [saicalé Den Ronggo, nenggih nagri Ngayogya,
wus tan ana banthengipun].
Tetapi yang ingkar janji pasti kena imbas. Hanya delapan belas bulan
setelah kejadian yang fatal ini, Sultan ke-2 tertimpang tsunami waktu
Keraton Yogya diserang dan dijarah habis-habis oleh Inggris-Sepoy (20 Juni
1812) dan semua uang (120 juta dolar Amerika dalam uang sekarang),
naskah, gamelan, keris, pusaka dan barang-barang perhiasan diboyong ke
Bengal. Sang raja sendiri juga kena sangsi dengan diasingkan ke Pulau
Pinang (1812-15) dan Ambon (1817-24): walaupun dikembalikan ke tahta
Yogya pada 17 Agustus 1826, sudah menjadi terlalu pikun untuk
memerintah lagi. Siapa yang menebar angin akan menabur topan!
Jadi Sultan ke-9 tidak hanya mengerti sejarah, tetapi juga mampu
membaca kisah leluhur dengan bijaksana dan mengadakan rekonsiliasi
melalui usahanya mengembalikan jenasah Raden Ronggo ke-3 ke Gunung
Bancak/Giripurno untuk disemayamkan lagi dekat istrinya yang tercinta.
Dan tidak hanya dengan Madiun tapi juga dengan trah Diponegoro Sultan
ke-9 bertindak bijak dengan membuka pintu keraton lagi kepada keluarga
Sang Pangeran yang sudah lama menjadi G30S dari Pemerintah Hindia
Belanda. Ternyata, pemimpin Perang Jawa itu telah menjadi menantu
almarhum Ronggo-3 setelah menikahi putrinya, Raden Ayu Maduretno
(nama yang sama seperti sang ibunda), pada September 1814, dan juga
mengangkat putranya dari istri selir, Ali Basah Sentot Prawirodirjo (sekitar
1808-1855), sebagai panglima selama Perang Jawa (1825-1830).
Dalam kisah yang amat tragis ini – semacam “Romeo dan Juliet” atau
“Hamlet” versi Madiun – hanya Sultan ke-9 yang tahu bertindak sakti.
Keluhuran budi jelas terlihat. Jadi timbul pertanyaan: mengapa seorang
raja dari generasi perintis begitu peka kepada sejarah tapi sekarang elit
politik begitu buta? Apakah ini faktor pendidikan? Atau hal lain seperti
gagasan dan ruang intelektual kaum pemimpin yang sekarang menjadi
picik pikirannya sebab sarat kepentingan pribadi? Tahta untuk rakyat
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adalah pedoman Sultan ke-9 bukan tahta untuk keluarga. Kisah
Yogyakarta dan Madiun menjadi saksi hidup sang raja republikan dan
demokratis itu yang selalu membawa “Jasmerah” Bung Karno - “Jangan
sekali-kali meninggalkan sejarah” - sebagai inspirasinya.
[1012 kata]
Peter Carey adalah Emeritus Fellow dari Trinity College, Oxford, dan YAD
Adjunct (Visiting) Profesor di FIB-UI (Fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya,
Universitas Indonesia).
A Sense of History – Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX
and the Tragedy of Raden Ronggo III of MaospatiMadiun
“He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind.”
“KPAH [Kangjeng Pangeran Ario Adipati] Ronggo Prawirodirjo III, Adipati
Maospati Madiun ke III, dihukum mati sebagai pemberontak melawan
penjajahan Belanda dan dimakamkan di makam pemberontak
Banyusumurup Th. 1810, dinyatakan sebagai ‘pejuang perintis melawan
Belanda’ oleh Sri Sultan HB IX Th. 1957 dan dimakamkan kembali di
Giripurno, makam permaisurinya putri HB II, GBRAy [Gusti Bendoro Raden
Ayu] Madoeretno.”
[“His Lordship Prince Ario Adipati Ronggo Prawirodirjo III, third senior
administrator of Maospati-Madiun, who was sentenced death as a rebel against
the Dutch colonisers and buried in the traitor’s graveyard in Banyusumurup in
1810, was proclaimed a ‘pioneer freedom fighter against the Dutch’ by Sultan HB
IX in 1957 and reinterred at Giripurno, the gravesite of his official wife, Her Royal
Highness Raden Ayu Madoeretno.”]
My eye was drawn to the marble plaque on the wall of the Ronggo family
graveyard at Gunung Bancak, Magetan, eighteen kilometres due
southwest of Maospati, seat of the former Senior Administrator (Bupati
Wedana) of Madiun, Ronggo Prawirodirjo III (c.1779-1810; in office, 17961810). This isolated and intensely moving graveyard is one of the secret
places of Java – a holy site which reflects its official name - Giripurno – hill
of eternity. A place of deep peace with a pair of fragrant Tanjung
(mimusops elengi) trees, celebrated in the ancient tales of the
Mahabharata and Ramayana, which frame the root-entwined pathway
leading to the early nineteenth century white-painted grave-house with its
sturdy doric pillars.
But I was confused: how come that the corpse of a rebel who had earlier
been laid to rest at Banyusumurup to the southeast of Imogiri, the
graveyard where the bad-hats and traitors to the Mataram dynasty were
A Sense of History
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buried, should be disinterred and reburied at far-distant Gunung Bancak
besides the grave of his beloved wife, Bendoro Gusti Raden Ayu
Maduretno? What was so important about this third and most tragic of the
senior administrators (bupati wedana) of Madiun who was killed in battle
aged just thirty-one at the hamlet of Sekaran (the place of the flowers) by
the banks of the Solo River on Monday, 17 December 1810? And who was
this ninth Sultan who had such a developed sense of history and
reverence for his ancestors that he was prepared to gather up the mortal
remains of this long-dead Madiun bupati and oversee his re-interment?
Who in the present age, amongst the current Indonesian political elite, has
such a sense of history? Indeed, who cares about the ancestors in our age
of “instant leaders” when private ambitions rule supreme?
As the Spanish-born philosopher, George Santayana, has pointed out
“those that do not know their history are condemned to relive it!” In this
context, the ninth sultan seems to have understood the inwardness of the
history of Yogyakarta and Madiun, recalling that after his ancestor, Sultan
Mangkubumi, had been recognized as the first sultan of Yogyakarta
following the Treaty of Giyanti on 13 February 1755, he had acknowledged
debts of honour to his closest allies. One of these was his army
commander, Kyai Wirosentiko (c.1717-1784), who was given the name of
Raden Ronggo Prawirodirjo I and elevated as the first Yogya Senior
Administrator (Bupati Wedana) of Madiun. A direct descendant of Sultan
Abdul Kahir I (r. 1621-40) of Bima (Sumbawa), Ronggo I was a polymath:
not only was he a gifted military strategist but he was also a writer and
seems to have composed one of the tales of the Damar Wulan cycle
beloved of East Javanese audiences – “Damar Wulan goes thieving”
(Damar Wulan bégal) (1750). His younger sister, Mas Roro Juwati – post1755 Ratu Ageng – had become the commander of the sultan’s personal
female bodyguard or Pasukan Srikandi, and the consort of the first sultan.
After her husband’s death in March 1792, it was she who looked after the
young Diponegoro at her Tegalrejo estate to the northwest of Yogyakarta
(1793-1803) and brought him up to become a gifted leader steeped in
Javanese-Islamic lore.
Before Raden Ronggo I died in 1784, Sultan Mangkubumi made him a
promise that both he and his successors as Yogya rulers would never harm
or shed the blood of the Bupati Wedana’s family, and if they ever made a
mistake they would always be forgiven. But only eighteen years after the
death of the Yogya founder, his son, the second sultan, broke his father’s
promise. On 20 November 1810, Raden Ronggo I’s grandson, Ronggo
Prawirodirjo III (in office, 1796-1810), decided to go into rebellion rather
than die at the bloody hands of the Dutch Governor-General, Marshal
Herman Willem Daendels (in office, 1808-11). Proclaiming that his
rebellion was to “clean Java of filth [the Dutch]”, he vowed to protect the
Javanese and Chinese in East Java, and above all to prevent the teak
forests of East Java from being destroyed by the depredations of the
colonial government.
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Yet only a week after Ronggo III’s rebellion, the second sultan sent a
secret instruction to the commander of the joint Javanese-Dutch force sent
to hunt Ronggo III down that even if he was taken alive he should
immediately be put to death. Mindful of the promise of his father, Sultan
Mangkubumi, the second sultan did not want the embarrassment of
Ronggo III being brought back to Yogya alive. In the end Ronggo and his
part Balinese deputy, Sumonegoro, were killed at Sekaran and their
bodies brought back to be shown like common criminals in open coffins at
the Pangurakan crossroads to the north of the alun-alun (open square in
front of the court). After a day of this display they were cut down and
taken to Banyusumurup for burial. According to Diponegoro, who may
have witnessed this gruesome sight, the second Sultan committed a
“great sin” and after the disappearance of Ronggo III it was as though
Yogya had lost its last “champion” [saicalé Den Ronggo, nenggih nagri
Ngayogya, wus tan ana banthengipun].
But retribution is swift for those who break their promises, especially
solemn and binding ones. Only eighteen months after these fatal events in
late 1810, the second Sultan and his court were overwhelmed by the
tsunami of the British-Indian invasion (20 June 1812). This stripped the
court of its treasure (USD 120 million in current money), all its
manuscripts (500+), its orchestras (gamelan), heirlooms, stabbing
daggers (kris) and jewelry, all of which were taken as war booty by the
British to Bengal. The Yogya ruler was also punished: he was sent first into
exile in Pulau Pinang (1812-1815) by the British and then to Ambon (18171824) by the returned Dutch administration. Although later reinstalled as
sultan on 17 August 1826, he was too feeble and advanced in years ever
to govern effectively again. Those who sow the wind will reap the
whirlwind.
So the ninth sultan not only understood his kingdom’s history, but was
also able to read the story of his ancestors with the insight and
imagination necessary to effect a lasting reconciliation: his return of the
mortal remains Ronggo III to Gunung Bancak (Giripurno) to be laid to rest
besides the body of his beloved wife was a stroke of genius. And it was not
only Madiun which was the beneficiary from his sense of history: the
descendants of Diponegoro also benefitted when the ninth sultan opened
the doors of the keraton to them for the first time since they had been
branded as the colonial equivalent of G30S following the end of the Java
War. In fact, the Java War leader and the Ronggo family were deeply
implicated: Diponegoro married Ronggo III’s orphaned daughter, Raden
Ayu Maduretno (the same name as her mother), and elevated Ronggo III’s
son by a secondary wife, Ali Basah Sentot Prawirodirjo (c. 1808-1855), as
his principal army commander during the Java War.
In this tragic tale – a Madiun version of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Hamlet”
all rolled into one – only the ninth sultan behaved with dignity. His
greatness of heart is clear. But why would a ruler of the era of the
Indonesian National Revolution act thus? Why did he evince such historical
A Sense of History
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sensitivity when current Indonesian leaders seem so blind to their
country’s history? Is this an issue of education and mental culture? Or one
related to vision and ideas, the present generation being blinkered by
their personal and family ambitions? Ruling for the people was the ninth
sultan’s motto, not ruling for his family. This story of Yogyakarta and
Madiun is living proof of the wisdom of that democratic and republican
sultan who always had the “Jasmerah [Never – not even once – turn your
back on your history!]” speech of President Soekarno (17 August 1966) in
his heart.
[1,400 words]
A Sense of History
Page 7
Raja Yang Peduli Sejarah dan Leluhur –
Mengungkapkan Sejarah Rahasia Yogyakarta dan
Madiun
Siapa yang menebar angin akan menabur topan!
“KPAH [Kangjeng Pangeran Ario Adipati] Ronggo Prawirodirjo III, Adipati
Maospati Madiun ke III, dihukum mati sebagai pemberontak melawan
penjajahan Belanda dan dimakamkan di makam pemberontak
Banyusumurup Th. 1810, dinyatakan sebagai ‘pejuang perintis melawan
Belanda’ oleh Sri Sultan HB IX Th. 1957 dan dimakamkan kembali di
Giripurno, makam permaisurinya putri HB II, GBRAy [Gusti Bendoro Raden
Ayu] Madoeretno.”
Mata saya terpapar kepada prasasti marmer di pemakaman di Gunung
Bancak, Magetan, 18 kilometer barat daya Maospati. Pemakaman yang
sunyi dan mentrenyuhkan ini adalah tempat istimewa - sebuah kramat
Jawa dengan suasana yang sesuai nama resmi – Giripurno - gunung dari
akherat. Sungguh teduh dengan sepasang pohon bunga tanjung
(mimusops elengi) yang harum, pohon tersohor dari Mahabharata dan
Ramayana, yang membingkai jalan berombak-ombak menuju ke cungkup
berpilar kokoh bercat putih itu.
A Sense of History
Page 1
2
Tapi saya bingung: bagaimana sampai terjadi bahwa jenasah seorang
pemberontak yang dulu dikebumikan di Banyusumurup sebelah tenggara
Imogiri, tempat di mana para durjana dan penghianat raja Mataram
dimakamkan, sampai digali dan disemayam lagi nun jauh di Gunung
Bancak di samping pemakaman istri yang tercinta, Bendoro Gusti Raden
Ayu Maduretno? Mengapa begitu pentingnya Bupati Wedono Madiun yang
ke-tiga dan tragis ini yang tewas pada umur tiga puluh satu tahun – satu
melawan seratus – di Sekaran (Kertosono) di tepi Bengawan Solo pada 17
Desember 1810? Dan siapa diri seorang Sultan ke-9 itu yang mempunyai
persentuhan yang begitu akrab dengan sejarah dan leluhur sehingga
peduli ‘ngumpulké balung pisah’? Toh, pada masa sekarang elit politik
Indonesia terkenal cuek perihal sejarah dan pengetahuannya atas riwayat
bangsa dangkal: seolah sejarah bukan lagi urusan zaman Reformasi ini
dimana kepentingan pribadi dan keluarga adalah nomor wahid!
Tetapi, seperti dinyatakan filosof Spanyol, George Santayana (1863-1952),
‘orang yang tidak bisa belajar dari sejarah akan dikutuk mengulang
sejarah itu lagi’. Sultan ke-9 itu betul faham bahwa antara Yogyakarta dan
Madiun ada semacam sejarah rahasia. Dia pasti ingat bahwa saat
leluhurnya, Pangeran Mangkubumi, dinobatkan sebagai sultan pertama
Yogyakarta setelah Perdamaian Giyanti (13 Februari 1755), dia mengakui
hutang budi kepada sekutu utama yang mendukungnya selama Perang
Giyanti (1746-55). Salah satu tokoh kunci adalah panglimanya, Kyai
Wirosentiko (sekitar 1717-1784), “gagedhug Sokawati”, yang diberi gelar
Raden Ronggo Prawirodirjo I dan jabatannya sebagai bupati wedana
(bupati kepala daerah wilayah timur jauh Yogya) di Madiun (menjabat
1760-1784). Seorang keturunan Sultan Abdul Kahir I dari Bima (bertahkta,
1621-40), Raden Ronggo I itu serba bisa: selain ahli siasat perang dia juga
seorang sastrawan yang pernah menulis sebuah lakon dalam siklus Damar
Wulan - Damar Wulan bégal (1750). Adik perempuannya, Mas Roro Juwati
(pasca-1755, Ratu Ageng), adalah panglima pasukan Srikandi (prajurit
èstri) kesultanan dan permaisuri utama Sultan Mangkubumi. Setelah wafat
sang suaminya (24 Maret 1792), Ratu Agenglah yang mengasoh
Diponegoro muda dan mengasah pemimpin Perang Jawa sebagai seorang
Islam-Jawa yang saleh di kediamannya di Tegalrejo di barat laut Yogya
(1793-1803).
Sebelum Raden Ronggo I meninggal pada 1784, Sultan Mangkubumi
pernah membuat janji bahwa dia dan pewarisnya tidak akan pernah
menyakiti atau menumpahkan darah keturunan Sang Bupati Wedana
Madiun itu, dan jika mereka sampai melakukan pelanggaran, Sultan
senantiasa sudi mengampuni. Tapi hanya delapan belas tahun sesudah
wafat sang raja perintis Yogya itu, anaknya, Sultan ke-dua, mengingkar
janji. Pada 20 November 1810, cucu Raden Ronggo, waktu itu bergelar
Raden Ronggo Prawirodirjo III (menjabat, 1796-1810), memilih
memberontak daripada dibunuh oleh Gubernur-Jenderal yang bengis itu,
Marsekal Herman Willem Daendels (menjabat, 1808-11). Ronggo ke-3 itu
mengumumkan bahwa pemberontakan adalah untuk “membersihkan Jawa
A Sense of History
Page 2
3
dari yang ternoda [Belanda]” dan membela hak orang Jawa dan Cina di
Jawa Timur, terutama dengan melindungi hutan jati dari kerebutan
pemerintah kolonial.
Hanya seminggu sesudah Ronggo ke-3 memberontak, Sultan ke-2
mengirim sebuah perintah rahasia kepada komandan pasukan gabungan
Yogya-Belanda bahwa sekalipun Ronggo ke-3 tertangkap hidup-hidup, ia
serta-merta harus dibunuh. Mengingat janji ayahandanya, Sultan ke-2
tidak mau menanggung malu bila Ronggo ke-3 dibawa kembali ke Yogya
dalam keadaan hidup. Akhirnya, Ronggo dan deputinya keturunan Bali,
Sumonegoro, dibunuh di Sekaran dan jenasahnya dibawah pulang ke
Yogya untuk dipertontonkan sebagai begal biasa dalam keranda terbuka
di Pangurakan utara alun-alun Keraton Yogya. Setelah sehari semalam,
jenasahnya diturunkan untuk dikebumikan di Banyusumurup. Menurut
Diponegoro, yang pernah menyaksikan tindakan keji ini, Sultan ke-2
membuat sebuah “dosa besar” dan sesudah Ronggo dibunuh, Yogya
seperti hilang pembela [saicalé Den Ronggo, nenggih nagri Ngayogya,
wus tan ana banthengipun].
Tetapi yang ingkar janji pasti kena imbas. Hanya delapan belas bulan
setelah kejadian yang fatal ini, Sultan ke-2 tertimpang tsunami waktu
Keraton Yogya diserang dan dijarah habis-habis oleh Inggris-Sepoy (20 Juni
1812) dan semua uang (120 juta dolar Amerika dalam uang sekarang),
naskah, gamelan, keris, pusaka dan barang-barang perhiasan diboyong ke
Bengal. Sang raja sendiri juga kena sangsi dengan diasingkan ke Pulau
Pinang (1812-15) dan Ambon (1817-24): walaupun dikembalikan ke tahta
Yogya pada 17 Agustus 1826, sudah menjadi terlalu pikun untuk
memerintah lagi. Siapa yang menebar angin akan menabur topan!
Jadi Sultan ke-9 tidak hanya mengerti sejarah, tetapi juga mampu
membaca kisah leluhur dengan bijaksana dan mengadakan rekonsiliasi
melalui usahanya mengembalikan jenasah Raden Ronggo ke-3 ke Gunung
Bancak/Giripurno untuk disemayamkan lagi dekat istrinya yang tercinta.
Dan tidak hanya dengan Madiun tapi juga dengan trah Diponegoro Sultan
ke-9 bertindak bijak dengan membuka pintu keraton lagi kepada keluarga
Sang Pangeran yang sudah lama menjadi G30S dari Pemerintah Hindia
Belanda. Ternyata, pemimpin Perang Jawa itu telah menjadi menantu
almarhum Ronggo-3 setelah menikahi putrinya, Raden Ayu Maduretno
(nama yang sama seperti sang ibunda), pada September 1814, dan juga
mengangkat putranya dari istri selir, Ali Basah Sentot Prawirodirjo (sekitar
1808-1855), sebagai panglima selama Perang Jawa (1825-1830).
Dalam kisah yang amat tragis ini – semacam “Romeo dan Juliet” atau
“Hamlet” versi Madiun – hanya Sultan ke-9 yang tahu bertindak sakti.
Keluhuran budi jelas terlihat. Jadi timbul pertanyaan: mengapa seorang
raja dari generasi perintis begitu peka kepada sejarah tapi sekarang elit
politik begitu buta? Apakah ini faktor pendidikan? Atau hal lain seperti
gagasan dan ruang intelektual kaum pemimpin yang sekarang menjadi
picik pikirannya sebab sarat kepentingan pribadi? Tahta untuk rakyat
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adalah pedoman Sultan ke-9 bukan tahta untuk keluarga. Kisah
Yogyakarta dan Madiun menjadi saksi hidup sang raja republikan dan
demokratis itu yang selalu membawa “Jasmerah” Bung Karno - “Jangan
sekali-kali meninggalkan sejarah” - sebagai inspirasinya.
[1012 kata]
Peter Carey adalah Emeritus Fellow dari Trinity College, Oxford, dan YAD
Adjunct (Visiting) Profesor di FIB-UI (Fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya,
Universitas Indonesia).
A Sense of History – Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX
and the Tragedy of Raden Ronggo III of MaospatiMadiun
“He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind.”
“KPAH [Kangjeng Pangeran Ario Adipati] Ronggo Prawirodirjo III, Adipati
Maospati Madiun ke III, dihukum mati sebagai pemberontak melawan
penjajahan Belanda dan dimakamkan di makam pemberontak
Banyusumurup Th. 1810, dinyatakan sebagai ‘pejuang perintis melawan
Belanda’ oleh Sri Sultan HB IX Th. 1957 dan dimakamkan kembali di
Giripurno, makam permaisurinya putri HB II, GBRAy [Gusti Bendoro Raden
Ayu] Madoeretno.”
[“His Lordship Prince Ario Adipati Ronggo Prawirodirjo III, third senior
administrator of Maospati-Madiun, who was sentenced death as a rebel against
the Dutch colonisers and buried in the traitor’s graveyard in Banyusumurup in
1810, was proclaimed a ‘pioneer freedom fighter against the Dutch’ by Sultan HB
IX in 1957 and reinterred at Giripurno, the gravesite of his official wife, Her Royal
Highness Raden Ayu Madoeretno.”]
My eye was drawn to the marble plaque on the wall of the Ronggo family
graveyard at Gunung Bancak, Magetan, eighteen kilometres due
southwest of Maospati, seat of the former Senior Administrator (Bupati
Wedana) of Madiun, Ronggo Prawirodirjo III (c.1779-1810; in office, 17961810). This isolated and intensely moving graveyard is one of the secret
places of Java – a holy site which reflects its official name - Giripurno – hill
of eternity. A place of deep peace with a pair of fragrant Tanjung
(mimusops elengi) trees, celebrated in the ancient tales of the
Mahabharata and Ramayana, which frame the root-entwined pathway
leading to the early nineteenth century white-painted grave-house with its
sturdy doric pillars.
But I was confused: how come that the corpse of a rebel who had earlier
been laid to rest at Banyusumurup to the southeast of Imogiri, the
graveyard where the bad-hats and traitors to the Mataram dynasty were
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buried, should be disinterred and reburied at far-distant Gunung Bancak
besides the grave of his beloved wife, Bendoro Gusti Raden Ayu
Maduretno? What was so important about this third and most tragic of the
senior administrators (bupati wedana) of Madiun who was killed in battle
aged just thirty-one at the hamlet of Sekaran (the place of the flowers) by
the banks of the Solo River on Monday, 17 December 1810? And who was
this ninth Sultan who had such a developed sense of history and
reverence for his ancestors that he was prepared to gather up the mortal
remains of this long-dead Madiun bupati and oversee his re-interment?
Who in the present age, amongst the current Indonesian political elite, has
such a sense of history? Indeed, who cares about the ancestors in our age
of “instant leaders” when private ambitions rule supreme?
As the Spanish-born philosopher, George Santayana, has pointed out
“those that do not know their history are condemned to relive it!” In this
context, the ninth sultan seems to have understood the inwardness of the
history of Yogyakarta and Madiun, recalling that after his ancestor, Sultan
Mangkubumi, had been recognized as the first sultan of Yogyakarta
following the Treaty of Giyanti on 13 February 1755, he had acknowledged
debts of honour to his closest allies. One of these was his army
commander, Kyai Wirosentiko (c.1717-1784), who was given the name of
Raden Ronggo Prawirodirjo I and elevated as the first Yogya Senior
Administrator (Bupati Wedana) of Madiun. A direct descendant of Sultan
Abdul Kahir I (r. 1621-40) of Bima (Sumbawa), Ronggo I was a polymath:
not only was he a gifted military strategist but he was also a writer and
seems to have composed one of the tales of the Damar Wulan cycle
beloved of East Javanese audiences – “Damar Wulan goes thieving”
(Damar Wulan bégal) (1750). His younger sister, Mas Roro Juwati – post1755 Ratu Ageng – had become the commander of the sultan’s personal
female bodyguard or Pasukan Srikandi, and the consort of the first sultan.
After her husband’s death in March 1792, it was she who looked after the
young Diponegoro at her Tegalrejo estate to the northwest of Yogyakarta
(1793-1803) and brought him up to become a gifted leader steeped in
Javanese-Islamic lore.
Before Raden Ronggo I died in 1784, Sultan Mangkubumi made him a
promise that both he and his successors as Yogya rulers would never harm
or shed the blood of the Bupati Wedana’s family, and if they ever made a
mistake they would always be forgiven. But only eighteen years after the
death of the Yogya founder, his son, the second sultan, broke his father’s
promise. On 20 November 1810, Raden Ronggo I’s grandson, Ronggo
Prawirodirjo III (in office, 1796-1810), decided to go into rebellion rather
than die at the bloody hands of the Dutch Governor-General, Marshal
Herman Willem Daendels (in office, 1808-11). Proclaiming that his
rebellion was to “clean Java of filth [the Dutch]”, he vowed to protect the
Javanese and Chinese in East Java, and above all to prevent the teak
forests of East Java from being destroyed by the depredations of the
colonial government.
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Yet only a week after Ronggo III’s rebellion, the second sultan sent a
secret instruction to the commander of the joint Javanese-Dutch force sent
to hunt Ronggo III down that even if he was taken alive he should
immediately be put to death. Mindful of the promise of his father, Sultan
Mangkubumi, the second sultan did not want the embarrassment of
Ronggo III being brought back to Yogya alive. In the end Ronggo and his
part Balinese deputy, Sumonegoro, were killed at Sekaran and their
bodies brought back to be shown like common criminals in open coffins at
the Pangurakan crossroads to the north of the alun-alun (open square in
front of the court). After a day of this display they were cut down and
taken to Banyusumurup for burial. According to Diponegoro, who may
have witnessed this gruesome sight, the second Sultan committed a
“great sin” and after the disappearance of Ronggo III it was as though
Yogya had lost its last “champion” [saicalé Den Ronggo, nenggih nagri
Ngayogya, wus tan ana banthengipun].
But retribution is swift for those who break their promises, especially
solemn and binding ones. Only eighteen months after these fatal events in
late 1810, the second Sultan and his court were overwhelmed by the
tsunami of the British-Indian invasion (20 June 1812). This stripped the
court of its treasure (USD 120 million in current money), all its
manuscripts (500+), its orchestras (gamelan), heirlooms, stabbing
daggers (kris) and jewelry, all of which were taken as war booty by the
British to Bengal. The Yogya ruler was also punished: he was sent first into
exile in Pulau Pinang (1812-1815) by the British and then to Ambon (18171824) by the returned Dutch administration. Although later reinstalled as
sultan on 17 August 1826, he was too feeble and advanced in years ever
to govern effectively again. Those who sow the wind will reap the
whirlwind.
So the ninth sultan not only understood his kingdom’s history, but was
also able to read the story of his ancestors with the insight and
imagination necessary to effect a lasting reconciliation: his return of the
mortal remains Ronggo III to Gunung Bancak (Giripurno) to be laid to rest
besides the body of his beloved wife was a stroke of genius. And it was not
only Madiun which was the beneficiary from his sense of history: the
descendants of Diponegoro also benefitted when the ninth sultan opened
the doors of the keraton to them for the first time since they had been
branded as the colonial equivalent of G30S following the end of the Java
War. In fact, the Java War leader and the Ronggo family were deeply
implicated: Diponegoro married Ronggo III’s orphaned daughter, Raden
Ayu Maduretno (the same name as her mother), and elevated Ronggo III’s
son by a secondary wife, Ali Basah Sentot Prawirodirjo (c. 1808-1855), as
his principal army commander during the Java War.
In this tragic tale – a Madiun version of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Hamlet”
all rolled into one – only the ninth sultan behaved with dignity. His
greatness of heart is clear. But why would a ruler of the era of the
Indonesian National Revolution act thus? Why did he evince such historical
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sensitivity when current Indonesian leaders seem so blind to their
country’s history? Is this an issue of education and mental culture? Or one
related to vision and ideas, the present generation being blinkered by
their personal and family ambitions? Ruling for the people was the ninth
sultan’s motto, not ruling for his family. This story of Yogyakarta and
Madiun is living proof of the wisdom of that democratic and republican
sultan who always had the “Jasmerah [Never – not even once – turn your
back on your history!]” speech of President Soekarno (17 August 1966) in
his heart.
[1,400 words]
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