Pangeran Diponegoro's Biography

 




     Diponegoro is the first son of Hamengkubuwono III. Hamengkubuwono III was the King in Mataram Kingdom (Yogyakarta). Diponegoro was born at November 11^th  1785 in Yogyakarta. His childhood name was Raden Mas Ontowiryo. His mother is R.A. Mangkarawati. She was one of Hamengkubuwono III’s wife. She was a selir ( a king’s wife but not a queen ). She came from Pacitan. 

     Diponegoro was once asked by his father to be a king. However he refused because he knew that he was not a queen’s son. His father had three wives. They were Bendara Raden Ayu Antawirya, Raden Ayu Ratnaningsih, and Raden Ayu Ratnaningrum.

     Diponegoro was interesred in religious activities. He was down to earth and he preferred to live like common people to a nobleman. He live at Tegalrejo, where his great grandmother had live ther. His great grandmother is the wife og Hamengkubuwono I.

     Diponegoro did not like the situation in the Mataram Kingdom. His objection began since Mataram was ruled by Hamengkubuwono V. At the time Hamengkubuwono V was still three years old. Thus, the Kingdom and Dutch Government created a council at 1822 to represent Hamengkubuwono V.  The daily government was run by Patih Danurejo and Dutch resident. Diponegoro was one of the council members but he retired soon afterwards. Dipongoro did not agee wiyh the way Mataram was ruled.

     At the time, the Dutch was lost in thr Napoleon War. They got inancial problems, so they put many taxes in their colony, including Indonesia. They also practiced monopoly in commerce to gain a lot ofprofit. The high taxes of course made in Indonesian people suffered. 

     To strengthen their economy and authority, the Dutch also invaded the kingdoms in Indonesia one of them was Yogyakarta Kingdom. The Dutch began to interferein Yogya  Governance since Hamengkubuwono IV died. 

     Diponegoro’s struggled against the Dutch began after the Dutch soldiers put some poles around the land owned by Diponegoro. He became more annoyed to the Dutch. He had been tired of them since the Dutch ignore yhe local custom. Indeed, the Dutch had burdened the people with high taxes.

     Diponegoro  said openly that he did not like the Dutch and he opposed them. He got much cympathy from many people. Actually, people hated thr colonialist but they were afraid because their king couldn’t do anything. 

     Diponegoro decided  to pull of the poles and it made tge Dutch irritated. The Dutch had a reason to arrest him. In July  20^th 1825, the Dutch surrounded his house.

     Pangeran Mangkubumi, Diponegoro’s uncle suggested him to move away from Tegalrejo. Diponegoro then escape from the Dutch’s attack . Diponegoro and his followers moved to Selarong Cave. Meanwhile, the Dutch troops knew that Diponegoro had run away so they burn his house.

     Diponegoro then declared war against the Dutch. Diponegoro said that it was a holy war against the wicked people and evil. He use Selarong as his basis, tgere he also accompanied by one of his wife , Radeb Ayu Retnaningsih.

     The spirit of te holy war spread until Pacitan (East Java) and Kedu (western part of Central Java). Many people joined Diponegoro’s troops. Kyai Maja, a religious famous man from Surakarta, also joined Diponegoro at Selarong. Kyai Maja brought a lot of his troops there. Sentot Alibahsyah Prawiradiedja, an army commander, also helped Diponegoro. Aftr all about fifteen princess joined with Diponegoro to confront the Dutch.

     The war began at 1825. Diponegoro’s troops rode horses  and attacked many Dutch’s guard posts. They used geurilla strategy to face enemy. They attacked the Dutch at the night sporadically and then quickly disappeared. The strategy made the Dutch overwhelmed. Diponegoro’s troops also moved fast from an area to another. The Dutch couldn’t ensure where they were. Diponegoro also used food blockade to make the Dutch suffering.