Priyayi

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The regent of Surabaya , Raden Tumenggung Musono in dress uniform at his inauguration. In his company officials in lower ranks: patih and wedana ( Dutch East Indies ).

Priyayi (outdated: Prijaji ) were the official nobility in the Dutch East Indies, in contrast to the royal nobility , the bangsawan (Indonesian) or ningrat ( Javanese ) and the "little people" (wong cilik). Priyayi is a Javanese word that denotes the descendants of the adipati (governors). This name originated with the creation of this post by the Sultan Agung of Mataram in the 17th century. The Priyayi were originally court servants, but quickly switched to the service of the colonial powers and are now among the rulers of the modern Indonesian republic.

Pre-colonial times

The Mataram Sultanate , 17th century

The Sultanate of Mataram , an Islamic state in southern Central Java, experienced the height of its courtly culture ( kraton = "ruler's court") in the 17th century , in which the sultan was a charismatic symbolic figure who ruled over a relatively independent aristocracy. The nobles, officials and administrative employees and chiefs were integrated as para yayi ("brothers of the king") in a network of relationships between patron and client and the sultan and thus committed to loyally administering the outskirts of the kingdom. The homeland of the Priyayi culture coincides with the center of Mataram. Especially the Javanese-speaking middle class and the eastern part of Java are considered to be the focus. The western part of Java, the eastern part and the nearby island of Madura were "Javanese" but were able to retain their ethnic, linguistic and cultural characteristics.

Colonial times

After the arrival of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the collapse of Mataram, the Sultanates of Surakarta and Yogyakarta became the centers of power in Java through the Treaty of Giyanti in 1755. Although the Dutch had a massive influence on politics and severely curtailed their independence, the two kingdoms are still today a symbol of Javanese court culture. In the rural lowlands of Java, the presence of indigenous bureaucrats encouraged state control of undeveloped areas and led the peasant population to shift from independent smallholders to dependent farm laborers.

Government offices

Outside the area that was ruled directly from Yogyakarta or Surakarta, the Dutch colonial authorities set up two civil authorities: the Binnenlands Bestuur ("Inland Administration"), which was occupied by Dutch officials, and the Pangreh Praja ("Officials of the area "), the local bureaucracy.

In 1926 the inland Bestuur in Java and Madura consisted of the following offices, which are presented in descending order:

  1. Governor; 3 items
  2. Resident; about 20 items
  3. Assistant resident; about 70 items
Raden Tumenggung Danoediningrat, the regent of Kediri with his wife. circa 1920.

In parallel there were three Pangreh Praja offices:

  1. Bupati ("regent"); about 70 items. The Bupati was responsible for a kabupaten , which at that time often represented a semi-autonomous state structure. The office was often passed from father to son, which was allowed by the Dutch constitution in 1854. The Bupati families formed a local aristocratic class. The Bupati was subordinate to the Assistant Resident , the lowly official of the inland Bestuur .
  2. Wedana ("District Chief"); about 400 items.
  3. Asisten Wedana ("Sub-District Chief"); about 1,200 items.

Other colonial officials who claimed Priyayi status were tax officials, prosecutors and police officers. In 1931, Europeans held only 10 percent of the entire civil service in the Dutch East Indies, and more than 250,000 local civil servants were on the state payroll. In Java there was also a class consciousness of priyagung ("upper priyayi"), a group that had close ties to the elite in Surakarta and Yogyakarta, and priyayi cilik ("lower priyayi"). However, the gap between these two groups was much smaller than the gap to the rural population.

Nationalist movement

Map of the Dutch East Indies at its greatest extent, beginning of the 20th century.

In 1901 the government of the Dutch East Indies introduced the so-called " Ethische Politiek " ("Ethical Politics") as an official guideline. This guideline extended the control of the colonial state through educational measures, religious surveillance, agricultural resource extraction and political surveillance. This policy lasted until the Japanese occupation of 1942. The policy made Western education accessible to the local population, even if only the wealthy could afford the tuition fees for secondary schools, where Dutch was also the language of instruction. In Java, the priyayi men were the first to receive this education before entering colonial service.

Nationalist ideas in the Javanese elite who had received a Dutch education shaped the Indonesian National Awakening . The Boedi Oetomo , the first indigenous political society in the Dutch East Indies, was formed in 1908 by a group of doctors and medical students from among the priyayi. This group was limited to Javanese men, but set the tone for a whole series of political agitations. From the Boedi Oetomo originate prominent priyayi as Soetatmo Soeriekosomo (1888-1924) and Noto Soeroto (1888-1951), a pioneer of ethnic nationalism in the Committee for Javanese Nationalism were also Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo (1886-1943) of a Indonesien- promoted wide nationalism and later founded the Indian Party . The emergence of other ethnic nationalist groups and Indonesian nationalist political parties in Java later supplanted Javanese nationalism and evolved into greater Indonesian-speaking nationalism in the 1920s and 30s.

Group picture of J. Visser and students at OSVIA, a school for local civil servants.

After independence

The recognition of the Republic of Indonesia by the Dutch authorities in 1949 meant that the bureaucratic institutions of the confederation controlled by the Dutch were integrated into the new republic. The number of civil servants in Indonesia rose from 115,000 in the 1920s to 400,000 in the 1950s. The top strategic positions, however, were filled by an elite of 100,000 officials who had received Dutch training and who were grouped around the Ministry of the Interior. In the 1980s, the number of civil servants in Indonesia increased to around 2 million, i.e. 13.9 civil servants per 1,000 inhabitants.

Although the status of the Priyayi is not anchored in Indonesian law, it is still regarded as a symbol of a popular opportunity for social advancement. During the Orde Baru (New Order) of General Suharto , the traditional values ​​of the Priyayi and the class population were promoted. In the Indonesian civil servants in particular, incentives for status awareness were created , for example through the establishment of the Corps of the Civil Servants of the Republic of Indonesia (KORPRI) in 1971.

title

The Priyayi has a sophisticated system of titles. Some of them were:

  • Raden Mas (for male nobles)
  • Raden Ayu (for female nobles)
  • Raden Ajeng (for unmarried female nobles)
  • Tumenggung : additional title for nobles who held government offices
  • Raden (lower rank than Raden Mas )
  • Raden Nganten (lower rank than Raden Ajeng / Raden Ayu , female)
  • Raden Roro (for unmarried women who were lower in rank than Raden Ajeng / Raden Ayu )
  • Mas (for lower nobility)

The order of precedence is ascending: Mas , Raden , Raden Mas , Raden Panji , Raden Tumenggung , Raden Ngabehi and Raden Aria . Some of these titles were hereditary. Sons received a title that was a ranking below that of their father, as far as this did not belong to the lowest rank.

The honorary title Raden is related to the nobility title Randriana / Andriana of Madagascar , as both go back to the Old Javanese word " Rahadyan " (Ra-hadi-an, "lord").

Cultural understanding

The American cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz identified two opposing terms in the understanding of the Priyayi that determine the worldview: alus ("cultivated", "refined") versus kasar ("uncultivated"). These two poles are defined by batin ("inner human experience") and lahir ("outer human behavior"). As a feudalist subculture in Javanese society in contrast to the peasant culture, the Priyayi culture emphasizes "alus" versus "kasar" and "batin" versus "lahir".

religion

The main religion is Islam, but there are also minorities of Catholic , Protestant Christians, Hindus and Buddhists . Within Javanese Islam, Geertz identifies three alirans (cultural currents): abangan , santri and Priyayi. Santri is the current of city dwellers who follow the mosque, the Koran and Islamic law. The abangan takes elements from Hinduism in rural areas and forms a culture with animistic and folklore elements. The Priyayi was the current of the bureaucratic elite and was determined by hierarchical Hindu-Javanese traditions. People assigned to Santri are often referred to as Putihan ("the whites") in contrast to the "red" abangan. In general, the religion of the Priyayi is closer to the Abangan tradition than the Santri, as it also combines a kind of polytheism with Islam. State rituals such as slametan (community festival) are similarly observed by Abangan and Priyayi.

The Priyayi families of the coastal, central and eastern areas of the island also value the genealogical connections to the Wali Sanga , the nine Islamic saints of Java, and are closer to the Santri in their religious practice.

Socio-economic status

While Abangan are mostly farmers, the Priyayi are the "country nobility and upper class of the cities. However, they are not feudal landlords, but government officials. In their self-image, the work of the Priyayi is" alus "in contrast to trade, agricultural and manual labor, which is called" kasar ". A 19th century poem," Suluk Mas Nganten ", by Jayadiningrat I, a Surakarta courtier , describes the charismatic power of Priyayi that cannot be acquired through formal equality:

Ana maneh nisthane wong memantu
ana ta sudagar cilik
awatara sugihipun
kepengin cara priyayi

And again there is shame for someone who held a wedding.
There was a handsome trader.
His wealth was mediocre.
He longed to imitate the Priyayi style.

However, Priyayi families still participate in the trade in an informal way. Until the 1980s, Priyayi women often supported family incomes by selling homemade textiles and artistic clothing, even though they did not appear in public.

language

Education and mastery of several Javanese language registers were part of the Priyayi's prestige during the Dutch colony, when most of the population was illiterate. The two main aspects of the Javanese language are namely krama ("formal") and ngoko ("informal"). The mastery of the "krama" requires extensive training. Towards the end of the 19th century, when many young Priyayi were educated in Dutch, the "inner elite" began to use Dutch as an everyday language. The Priyayi of the colonial era therefore became largely bilingual. Since independence, Indonesian became the national language, and new styles of Indonesian and Javanese developed in which "krama" and "ngoko" elements continued to develop.

art

A batik from Yogyakarta .

The Priyayi are patrons and themselves artists of classical courtly Javanese art forms:

  1. wayang ; Shadow games with the Javanese stories of the Ramayana , the Mahabharata and the stories of the pre-colonial Javanese kingdoms
  2. gamelan ; the percussion orchestra that is played both to accompany the wayang performances and also appears independently
  3. lacon ; Telling of the Wayang stories
  4. tembang ; Fixed form of poems that are performed to accompany gamelan
  5. batik ; Textile dyeing with wax and paint

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c H. McDonald: Suharto's Indonesia. 1980, p. 9f.
  2. ^ H. Sutherland: Priyayi. 1975, p. 58.
  3. ^ T. Schiel: Petani and Priyayi: The Transformation of Java and the Rise of Despotism. 1990, p. 75.
  4. ^ H. Sutherland: Priyayi. 1975, p. 57f.
  5. ↑ a b H. Sutherland: Priyayi. 1975, p. 61f.
  6. ^ P. Carey: Civilization on Loan: The Making of an Upstart Polity: Mataram and Its Successors. 1997, pp. 711-713.
  7. ^ T. Schiel: Petani and Priyayi: The Transformation of Java and the Rise of Despotism. 1990, p. 79.
  8. ↑ a b c d e H. Sutherland: Notes on Java's Regent Families. 1973, p. 114.
  9. ^ B. Anderson: Language and Power. 1990, p. 98.
  10. ↑ B. Anderson, Soejatno: Revolution and Social Tensions in Surakarta 1945-1950. 1974, p. 99f.
  11. ↑ a b B. Anderson: Language and Power. 1990, p. 97.
  12. ↑ H. Schijf, BA-M. The: Chinese Doctors in the Dutch East Indies: Social Mobility among an Ethnic Trading Minority. 1992, pp. 40-47.
  13. ^ J. Hagen: Read All about It: The Press and the Rise of National Consciousness in Early Twentieth-Century Dutch East Indies Society. 1997, p. 114.
  14. ^ A b F. Fakih: Conservative Corporatist: Nationalist Thoughts of Aristocrats: The ideas of Soetatmo Soeriokoesoemo and Noto Soeroto. 2012, p. 420.
  15. ↑ T. Shiraishi: The Disputes between Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo and Soetatmo Soeriokoesoemo: Satria vs. Pandita. 1981, p. 93.
  16. ↑ L. Suryadinata: Indonesian Nationalism and the Pre-War Youth Movement: A Reexamination. 1978, pp. 104-107.
  17. ↑ a b c H. S. Nordholt: Indonesia in the 1950s. Nation, Modernity, and the Post-Colonial State. 2011, p. 399.
  18. ↑ H.-D. Evers: The Bureaucratization of Southeast Asia. 1997, p. 672.
  19. ^ HS Nordholt: Indonesia in the 1950s. Nation, Modernity, and the Post-Colonial State. 2011, p. 400.
  20. ^ R. Cribb, A. Kahin: Historical Dictionary of Southeast Asia. 2004, p. 357.
  21. ↑ S. Atmosumarto: A learner's comprehensive dictionary of Indonesian. 2004.
  22. ^ A. Ibrahim, S. Siddique, Y. Hussain: Readings on Islam in Southeast Asia. 1985.
  23. ^ A. Adelaar: The Indonesian migrations to Madagascar: Making sense of the multidisciplinary evidence. 2006.
  24. ↑ a b C. Geertz: The Religion of Java. 1960, p. 232.
  25. ^ R. Cribb, A. Kahin: Historical Dictionary of Southeast Asia. 2004, p. LXV
  26. ^ C. Geertz: The Religion of Java. 1960, p. 121.
  27. ^ C. Geertz: The Religion of Java. 1960, p. 234.
  28. ^ C. Geertz: The Religion of Java. 1960, p. 235.
  29. ↑ a b C. Geertz: The Religion of Java. 1960, p. 229.
  30. ^ C. Geertz: The Religion of Java. 1960, p. 230.
  31. ^ SA Brenner: Competing Hierarchies: Merchants and the Priyayi Elite in Solo, Central Java. 1991, p. 67f.
  32. ↑ Again there is the shame of one who held a wedding / There was a petty merchant / Middling was his wealth / He yearned to follow the style of the priyayi.
  33. ^ SA Brenner: Competing Hierarchies: Merchants and the Priyayi Elite in Solo, Central Java. 1991, p. 78f.
  34. ↑ a b c B. Anderson: Language and Power. 1990, p. 131.
  35. ^ B. Anderson: Language and Power. 1990, p. 132.
  36. ^ B. Anderson: Language and Power. 1990, p. 134.
  37. ^ B. Anderson: Language and Power. 1990, pp. 144-147.
  38. ^ C. Geertz: The Religion of Java. 1960, p. 261.

literature

  • Alexander Adelaar: The Indonesian migrations to Madagascar: Making sense of the multidisciplinary evidence. In: Austronesian diaspora and the ethnogenesis of people in Indonesian Archipelago. Lipi Press, 2006, (santafe.edu PDF).
  • Benedict Anderson: Language and Power. Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia. Cornell University Press, Ithaca 1990.
  • Benedict Anderson, Soejatno: Revolution and Social Tensions in Surakarta 1945–1950. In: Indonesia. vol. 17, 1974, pp. 99-111.
  • Sutanto Atmosumarto: A learner's comprehensive dictionary of Indonesian. Atma Stanton, 2004, ISBN 0-9546828-0-7 . (books.google.com)
  • Suzanne A. Brenner: Competing Hierarchies: Merchants and the Priyayi Elite in Solo, Central Java. In: Indonesia. vol. 52, 1991, pp. 55-83.
  • Peter Carey: Civilization on Loan: The Making of an Upstart Polity: Mataram and Its Successors, 1600-1830. In: Modern Asian Studies. vol. 31, No. 3, 1997, pp. 711-734.
  • Robert Cribb, Audrey Kahin: Historical Dictionary of Southeast Asia. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD 2004.
  • Hans-Dieter Evers: The Bureaucratization of Southeast Asia. In: Comparative Studies in Society and History. vol. 29, No. 4, 1997, pp. 666-685.
  • Farabi Fakih: Conservative Corporatist: Nationalist Thoughts of Aristocrats: The ideas of Soetatmo Soeriokoesoemo and Noto Soeroto. In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- and Folklore. vol. 168, No. 4, 2012, pp. 420-444.
  • Clifford Geertz: The Religion of Java. Free Press, Glencoe, IL 1960.
  • James Hagen: Read All about It: The Press and the Rise of National Consciousness in Early Twentieth-Century Dutch East Indies Society. In: Anthropological Quarterly. vol. 70, 3, 1997, pp. 107-126.
  • Ahmad Ibrahim, Sharon Siddique, Yasmin Hussain: Readings on Islam in Southeast Asia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1985, ISBN 9971-988-08-9 .
  • Hamish McDonald: Suharto's Indonesia. Fontana, Melbourne 1980.
  • Henk Schulte Nordholt: Indonesia in the 1950s. Nation, Modernity, and the Post-Colonial State. In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- and Folklore. vol. 167, No. 4, 2011, pp. 386-404.
  • Romain Bertrand: Etat colonial, noblesse et nationalisme à Java. La tradition parfaite. Karthala, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-84586-637-2 .
  • Tilman Schiel: Petani and Priyayi: The Transformation of Java and the Rise of Despotism. In: Sojourn: Journal of Social issues in Southeast Asia. vol. 5, No. 1, 1990, pp. 63-85.
  • Huibert Schijf, Bernardine Anne-Mei The: Chinese Doctors in the Dutch East Indies: Social Mobility among an Ethnic Trading Minority. In: Indonesia. vol. 53, 1992, pp. 33-50.
  • Takashi Shiraishi: The Disputes between Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo and Soetatmo Soeriokoesoemo: Satria vs. Pandita. In: Indonesia. vol. 32, 1981, pp. 93-108.
  • Leo Suryadinata: Indonesian Nationalism and the Pre-War Youth Movement: A Reexamination. In: Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. vol. 9, No. 1, 1978, pp. 99-114.
  • Heather Sutherland: Notes on Java's Regent Families. Part 1. In: Indonesia. vol. 16, 1973, pp. 112-147.
  • Heather Sutherland: Priyayi. In: Indonesia. vol. 19, 1975, pp. 57-77.

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