P.

de Josselin de Jong
A study of Javanese history as a reaction to foreign cultures

In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 153 (1997), no: 1, Leiden, 112-129

This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl

 REVIEW ARTICLES

P.E. DE JOSSELIN DE JONG

A Study of Javanese History as

a Reaction to Foreign Cultures*

A review of Denys Lombard, Le carrefour javanais: Essai

d'histoire globale. Editions de 1'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en
Sciences Sociales, Paris 1990, 3 volumes. Vol. I, 206 pp. text +
57 pp. notes, maps and illustrations; Vol. II, 308 pp. text + 1 1 3
pp. notes and illustrations; Vol. III, 157 pp. text + 182 pp. notes,
glossary, bibliography, index, and general tables of illustrations,
maps and contents. ISBN 2.7192.05498.

The work of a leading Indonesia specialist, this is one of the most important
books on the history of Java in particular, and Indonesia in general, to
appear in recent times. Based on a formidable command of a wide variety
of sources, many of them indigenous, the descriptions present a veritable
wealth of facts. And though many of the data are not new, their
interpretation often is surprisingly original.
The sequence of the three volumes comprising the book is anti-
chronological. For where all three deal with the elements of the foreign
influences that Javanese culture underwent which it accepted, the
influences dealt with in Volume I are those of Europe, in Volume II those of
Islam, and in Volume III what are usually called Hindu-Buddhist influences.
Although the reason for this inverse chronology is not explained at the
outset, the reader soon enough realizes what it is: the most data are
available for the period treated in the first volume, while their interpretation
may also be helpful for the study of the two earlier periods. The coming of
Islam is further back in history, but its effects are also contemporaneous.
The period dealt with in Volume III, lastly, is historically the most distant, so
that the data we have for it are plentiful for only a few subjects. The author
himself very briefly describes his procedure as follows: '"A geological
order", which will allow us to analyse the various fields which make up the
present landscape ...' (Vol. I, p. 9). Although he is very cautious in this
respect, we could say that the wealth of information provided in the first

* EDITORIAL NOTE: Although for a variety of reasons this review article is rather late
in appearing, the editors feel it still deserves publication. It offers a survey of the
contents of a universalistic piece of scholarship on Javanese history which, being
written in French, has up till now been accessible to only a limited number of scholars.

BKI 153-1 (1997)

 Review Articles 113

volume can help our understanding of why and how particular aspects of
major cultural currents from abroad contributed to the formation of
Javanese culture as a whole.

Volume I, Les limites de l'occidentalisaüon (The limits of Westernization),

opens with an introduction to the three volumes as a whole, presenting
'historical and geographical considerations'. The immense distances in the
Indonesian archipelago gave rise to special problems, which leads the
author to consider 'the sea as a trait d'union'. There is a map (p. 35)
showing where the Europeans had settlements in western Java in the 17th-
19th centuries and Islam in eastern Java in the 15th-19th centuries. The
topography of both these areas is described. Before Daendels' 'post
roads' of the early 19th century it was only by the sea routes that such
diverse but important elements as Islam and the Malay language could
spread and the Chinese could travel.
This introduction is followed by an introductory sub-chapter entitled
'Les "Belles Indes" vues de 1'Ouest' (pp. 39-50). Besides Dutch authors,
Baudelaire and De Quincey (the 'opium-eater') are mentioned as examples
of how westerners viewed the East. It is very disappointing to see,
Lombard notes, that since Indonesian independence there has been no
changed, more understanding attitude to Indonesia on the part of
European novelists. The European on a 'secret mission' is a dominant
theme, but Eric Ambler is a favourable exception. The bibliographical
comments in this sub-section are very enlightening. Being brief, they are
done scant justice by my even briefer summary, whereas in fact they are
very thorough and original.

Of the five subsequent chapters, the first is entitled 'Lands of colonization'

(pp. 51-79). The first of the three sections into which it is divided (pp. 52-
62) deals with the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.) period. It is argued
that the V.O.C, territories never became colonies, in the sense of
settlements in a new country. The reasons for this are various, being firstly
the desire of V.O.C officials to return home after they had made their
fortune overseas and secondly the 'totalitarian' character of the Company,
which did not leave its employees any room to determine their own
individual living and working conditions. Lastly, in the rare case of the
'blijvers', i.e., permanent settlers, the process of Indonesianization which
affected the second and subsequent generations precluded the formation
of any homogeneous group of Dutch 'colonists'.
The next section, B (pp. 62-71), deals with 'The formation of the
Netherlands Indies'. Where the conclusion to be drawn from Section A is
that, until the early 19th century, there was hardly any western impact on
the Indies, this is seen to change with the arrival of H.W. Daendels as
governor in 1808. A map on p. 65 shows the important stages in the
'development of the Netherlands Indies territory' from 1824 tot 1904. A
 114 Review Articles

factor which contributed to the increasing homogeneity of the Netherlands

East Indies was the arrival of Dutch women. This of course led to
'endogamy' among the Dutch in the colony, and consequently - as in
other European colonies - to Europeans having fewer personal contacts
with the 'natives' (here the author uses data cited in his introduction,
referring to Beb Vuyk's 1939 novel, Het laatste huis van de wereld). In
this period Europeans were also better able to withstand major epidemics
than Indonesians. There was, in fact, 'inequality as regards sickness and
death' (p. 69). To sum up, in this period the European community on the
one hand secluded itself from the Indonesian population, and on the other
hand had certain objects which the Indonesians admired and adopted.
The third section (C, pp. 71-9) carries the chronology yet further, dealing
with 'The ambiguities of independence'. After independence, Dutch
influence virtually came to an end in Indonesia, and western influences
henceforth came from such countries as the U.S.A., Canada and Australia.
This general decline in western influence is offset, however, by Indonesians
themselves visiting western countries as businessmen, university students
and diplomats. So in spite of everything, western influence persists.

Chapter 2 deals with 'Westernized groups' (pp. 79-107) and begins by

contrasting the situation in the Philippines with that in the Netherlands
East Indies, where the general policy was to restrict and slow down the
process of acculturation (p. 81). This chapter is divided into four sub-
chapters.
Section A deals with 'The role of the Christian communities'. A map of
Java locates, with relevant dates, 'The earliest Sumatran and Eurasian
communities; Javanese communities under European leadership;
independent Javanese communities under the leadership of a prophet; and
the first Chinese communities' (p. 83).
The next sub-chapter, B (pp. 86-97), is on 'the priyayi elite'. The
priyayi in the 17th century could be styled a nobility, and in the 19th
century a bureaucracy. In general, therefore, they constituted the elite. The
V.O.C's intention was to make this class a 'pole of attraction' in
opposition to Mataram (p. 87). Later, in the early 19th century, Governor-
General Van den Bosch showed himself in favour of supporting this
aristocracy. The results of this policy, which was implemented very slowly
and on a limited scale, became apparent later on in that century with the
founding of western-type schools for priyayi children. Some individuals
typifying the relations between the priyayi class and western culture were,
for example, the painter Raden Saléh (1834-1880) and the harbinger of the
women's rights movement Raden Ajeng Kartini (1879-1904). Attention is
also given to Ahmad and Husein Djajadiningrat, who were prominent as an
official and as an Oriëntalist respectively.
The historical survey is continued and carried into modern times in
Section C (pp. 97-102), on 'The army and the universities'. During the
 Review Articles 115

struggle for independence and after, the majority of the military favoured
the Republic, although some priyayi among them retained a western (or
even a pro-western) orientation. The army and the universities continued
to follow western models, thereby also attracting many priyayi (p. 98). One
of the great universities of independent Indonesia, the Universitas
Indonesia in Jakarta, manifests its western orientation by keeping itself
open to American influences, while the Universitas Gadjah Mada in
Yogyakarta favours spirituality (kerokhanian) and community sense
(kemasyarakatan).
While Section C has brought us up-to-date, Section D (pp. 102-5) looks
forward, as its title, 'Towards the formation of a middle class?', indicates.
This question can perhaps be cautiously answered in a positive sense, as
western influences are now beginning to filter 'downwards' and penetrate
beyond the limits of the traditional elite. Such institutions as savings banks
and insurance companies are on the increase, for example (p. 104).
To my mind, this chapter is, in a sense, central to Volume I as a whole, as
it deals with the way Javanese culture has assimilated western influences.
It is commendable for the expertise, the honesty - that is to say, impartiality
- and the clarity with which it deals with the subject. A critic might object
that it does not give any new facts, but then it would be fair to observe
that it presents the facts in an original and enlighteningly new context, as,
for example, in the passages on pp. 98 and 104.

Chapter 3 (pp. 107-44) examines 'The complexity of the conceptual

heritage'. It opens with a passage which typifies Lombard's command of
the relevant literature and his ability to see the significance of particular
details. He quotes from a 1935 article by Keuning describing how Karaéng
Pattingaloang, prince of Makassar, in 1644 ordered two world globes and
two atlases, for which he paid in advance (p. 108). This episode of course
also testifies to Indonesian scholarly and practical interest in geography in
the 17th century.
After this fascinating introduction, we come to the description in Section
A (pp. 110-21), 'The impact of Western techniques on the economy and
demography', of how the large-scale import of iron (from, for instance,
China) in the 19th and 20th centuries resulted in an increase in inland
traffic. Rail traffic increased greatly - as is illustrated by a number of maps
and plates (pp. 113-6) - and Java now has one of the densest railway
networks of Asia. The introduction of western medicine of course also was
of great importance, and the remarkable thing is that it went hand in hand
with a western interest in Indonesian medicine (as Jacob de Bondt,
Medicina Indorum, Batavia 1631, testifies). The attempts since the mid-
19th century to (re-)vaccinate the entire population against smallpox had
spectacular demographic results, as did the introduction of quinine in the
fight against malaria. Of world-wide importance was the discovery by
Eykman and Grijns (1890-96) of the causes of beriberi (p. 120).
 116 Review Articles

Section B (pp. 121-9), 'The techniques of incorporation', is more strictly

sociological, describing how a number of diverse measures all contributed
to the unification of the country as a whole. These measures included the
introduction of a single currency, a single calendar (namely the western
one), and the press. For the implementation of these and other measures for
over a century there was necessarily close collaboration between the
Dutch and the 'native' civil service (the Binnenlandsch Bestuur and the
Pangrèh Praja). This brief exposition refutes the stereotyped notion of an
age-old conflict between the two ethnic groups.
Section C (pp. 129-38), 'Dress, gestures, language', raises some
questions for further research. It discusses apparently simple (or even
trivial) details, which might, however, prove to have original and
enlightening aspects. With regard to clothing, for instance, it asks why
Indonesian men adopted western dress, whereas Indonesian women did
not. With respect to gestures and postures it queries why Indonesians
adopted the custom of shaking hands and the western way of sitting but
not, for example, western dance styles. In the third, and most important,
section on this subject the author compares the fate of the Dutch language
in Indonesia with that of English in Malaysia and the Philippines and the
history of the different scripts in South-East Asia as a whole in the 7th and
20th centuries (see, for example, the maps on p. 137).
Section D (pp. 138-44), 'Words and political reality', poses a problem, at
least for this reviewer. Lombard's aptitude for selecting and summarizing
the appropriate data before formulating his conclusions is perhaps
nowhere better illustrated than in this section on the semantics of four
specimen loanwords: nasionalisme, komunisme, démokrasi and révolusi.
The concise treatment (pp. 139-43) of the meanings and changes in
meaning of these four Indonesian words defies summarization, and I can do
no better than pass the expert historico-semantic discussion of this section
over in silence and quote the final sentence: 'In Indonesia - as elsewhere,
no doubt - westernization of the vocabulary is a mirage, by which the
historian should not allow himself to be deceived'.

Chapter 4 (pp. 145-80) deals with 'The disarray in aesthetics'. Two results
of western influence on Javanese art were the diminution of its sacral
character and its individualization. A reflection of the latter development
were several cases of alleged plagiarism (for example, the quite spectacular
case against the 1938 Malay novel Tenggelamnya Kapal Van der Wijck
by Hamka in 1960; p. 147 and fn. 392).
Section A, 'Novelty at all costs', is original throughout and, like the
book as a whole, combines details with broad outlines. The essence of the
author's views as stated on pp. 148 and 149 and in footnote 397 is that,
though the desire to break with the past and do something completely new
is found in other places and other times as well, the Indonesian intellectuals
of the twentieth century feit this - and for the greater part still feel it -
 Review Articles 117

unusually strongly. It is not surprising that they found favour in western

eyes. The problem of westernization therefore is not clearly stated by
Teeuw as regards literature or by Claire Holt with respect to art. Lombard
further discusses painting (pp. 154-8), where he says we cannot speak of
western influence but rather of a break, literature (pp. 158-63), music (p
163) and the cinema (pp. 164-6). To give at least some idea of how he
treats these subjects, I shall pause to consider what he does in his sub-
section on music. Here he discerns two distinct movements. The first
embraces the ideal of Van pour l'art. The second, associated since 1957
with the Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat (Lekra), as this name suggests, was
an exponent of communist ideas on art. How, one might ask, does the
general public react to these modern developments? The answer is that in
the domains of literature, music and film it does so with silent, implicit
resistance.
The next section, B (pp. 166-73), entitled 'Realism? Naturalism?
Existentialism?', deals in particular with two movements and groups in
Indonesian literature. The novels published by Balai Pustaka and
Poedjangga Baroe, firstly, are didactic, employing stereotypes, witness the
'romans a these' by Marah Rusli and Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana. The
novels of the second group, the Angkatan 45, of which Idrus, Pramoedya
Ananta Toer, and Mochtar Lubis are prominent exponents, are
characterized by realistic descriptions of everyday life and by a tendency
to moralizing. In art, photography is viewed as a source of inspiration and
an example. Lombard concludes this section with the original observation
that the first Indonesian film was conceived by Armijn Pané in 1950 (and
prohibited by the censors).
Section C (pp. 173-80), in conclusion, deals with 'Change in regional
cultures'. A recent change noted in many ceremonies (tontonan) here is
their desacralization. The Barong ritual in Bali is an example. In order to
restrict the undesirable effects of this process on tourism, some
performances are closed to tourists (p. 176). Lastly, it is observed that there
is no appreciation for Song or Ming pottery, let alone for V.O.C, ceramics.
Here again, we should note, a detail is introduced because of its
significance to the broader subject.

Chapter 5 (pp. 181-206), 'Conversion or rejection?',,closes Volume I and

the discussion of cultural contacts between the Javanese and Europeans.
In this context it is relevant to consider how the Javanese experienced
westernization and how they viewed the Dutch. The author agrees with
M.A. Ricklefs' answer to the second question, namely that they often
identified the Dutch with the panakawan of the wayang theatre, that is,
regarded them as grotesque figures. For a further consideration, we may
turn to 19th- and 20th-century Javanese literature, in which westerners
and their culture are seen to be regarded still as asing (foreign) and anèh
(strange) - in contrast to Indians and the bearers of Islam. This idea is
118 Review Articles

worked out in the three following sections.

Section A (pp. 184-9), 'The impossible fusion', begins by noting a
drastic change in the attitude of the Dutch in Indonesia. In the early period
of contact the prevalent idea was that the indigenous people would
assimilate to the Europeans. It was not until the 1930s that there was a
radical change of view - witness J.H. Boeke's 'dualistic economy', for
instance. A most important part was played, both in scholarship and in
literature, by Eurasians, such as C.F. Winter (1799-1859), the 'true founder
of Javanese studies', and the famous H.N. van der Tuuk (1834-1894).
Eurasian linguistic features in literature are to be noted in the novels of
Louis Couperus, Douwes Dekker, Du Perron and, after the war, Tjalie
Robinson (pseudonym of J. Boon) and R. Nieuwenhuys (pseudonym:
Breton de Nijs).
Section B (pp. 189-96), 'The temptation of the West', shows how the
desire to become western was evinced in particular by Christians and by
intellectuals. On Christianity, which always remained the religion of a
minority in Indonesia, we are given more detailed information on pp. 190-4.
Among the intellectuals desiring fuller participation in western culture a
leading figure was Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana, a Minangkabau who in 1933
founded the journal Poedjangga Baroe. Like him, most of his followers,
such as Asrul Sani, H.B. Jassin and Mochtar Lubis, were non-Javanese
living in Java. Despite the fact that Lubis was under house arrest for a long
time and Sutan Takdir was banished by the authorities, their ideas in favour
of modernization prevailed.
Section C (pp. 196-206), on the return to 'Oriental sources', begins by
noting that there was also a current running counter to Sutan Takdir
Alisjahbana's views in the 1930s, which insisted on the lasting value of
(particularly Javanese) tradition. This tendency is evinced by Ki Hadjar
Dewantoro (1889-1959), Sanusi Pané, and Muhammad Yamin. In modern
Indonesia it had three notable effects, namely the re-introduction of
Indonesian place-names, the destruction of some buildings from the
colonial period, and, most importantly, the propagation of Bahasa
Indonesia instead of Dutch as the national language. It also involved
giving the new Indonesian culture a traditional, that is, Javanese, basis and
writing the national, Indonesian, history 'from a Javanese viewpoint' (p.
201). Lombard adds that objections to this ideology were raised by the
Muslims (p. 205).
Among the Lekra group of writers and artists, particularly the
communists opposed westernization and advocated a 'return to Oriental
sources'. The very fact that they were imprisoned in large numbers in the
seventies proves that westernization, so ardently desired by some, 'was not
having its own way in Indonesia' (p. 206). This can only be explained by
going 'back in history to discover the deeper levels in which this
resistance had its roots' (p. 206).
This is an obvious introduction to Volumes II and III. Moreover, it is one
 Review Articles 119

of the few passages in which the author makes clear the reason for the
inverse chronology of his work as a whole.

Volume II, Les réseaux asiatiques (Asian networks), begins with a short
general introduction stating that this volume will deal with the economie
and social history of South-East Asia before the coming of the Europeans.
These 'insinuated their way into' the existing networks in Malaka, and
later in Batavia(p. 12).

Chapter 1 deals with 'Ancient shipping routes'. lts first section (A, pp. 16-
31) discusses 'The voyages of the "Kunlun" and the routes of
"Indianization"'. The relations with China (pp. 18-21) and with India (pp.
21-6) are described. Then we come to the main subject of this volume:
Islam. The trade route from Oman and Basra to Khanfu, i.e., Canton, ran via
Aceh. These and similar pieces of information create an impression of a
certain 'cosmopolitanism' (p. 27), which is confirmed by later data, as
given in the next section.
In Section B (pp. 31-48), 'The intensification of large-scale commerce in
the 13th to 15th centuries', important developments in the 13th century are
discussed. They are: (1) the decline of Sriwijaya and the rise of Majapahit,
and (2) the rise of Theravada Buddhism (particularly in the Malay
Peninsula) and of Islam (in the archipelago as a whole). This section is
focused mainly on Java's commerce with China. It is noteworthy in this
connection that the first European descriptions, by De Barros and Tomé
Pires, also refer to the 'présence chinoise'. It is mainly to these relations
that the Javanese ports, and urbanization in general, owe their existence.
Important early Muslim establishments were at Gresik and Demak, where
the great mosque was built, with Sunan Bonang as imam (pp. 43, 44).
Section C (pp. 48-62), 'The rise of the sultanates (16th-18th centuries)',
as its title indicates, follows the history of Islam in Java in the next
centuries. Thanks to European sources, we are relatively well informed on
the Malaka Straits, with its pepper cultivation, on the spice-producing
Moluccas (particularly Ternate and Banda), and on Java (circa 1527-1588).
Here the agricultural centres of the central and eastern areas were eclipsed
by the trade centres of the north coast of Java, or Pasisir (p. 50, and map on
p. 51). The final pages of this section (pp. 56-60) present data on a rare
subject in this volume, namely histoire bataille. This is justified by the fact
that the 18th century was a difficult period for the Pasisir as an area where
Mataram and the V.O.C, struggled for supremacy.
The diachronic survey is concluded by Section D (pp. 62-75), 'Political
withdrawals and economie rivalries, 19th and 20th centuries'. In this
period trade no longer was the sole principal concern of the colonizers,
who were also bent on opening up the 'outer territories'
(Buitengewesten). Consequently, South-East Asia was split up into three
colonial areas, namely Malaya and Singapore; the Netherlands East Indies;
120 Review Articles

and the Philippines. The period also saw the growing influence of China -
or rather, of persons who feit themselves to be Chinese - in the
archipelago. No less important was the increasing influence of Islam. The
latter trend was due largely to immigration from Hadramawt, particularly to
the larger urban centres of the Pasisir (in 1885 the inhabitants of
Hadramawt origin in these centres in Java and Madura numbered almost
20,000). Moreover, in the years 1914-1931 Muslims from the Netherlands
East Indies made up about 50% of all pilgrims to Mecca. A notorious
Netherlands East Indies government provision in this period distinguished
between four categories of inhabitants: Europeans, persons assimilated to
Europeans, natives, and foreign Orientals. This gave rise to fission in
society, where formerly there had been osmosis.

With Chapter 2 (pp. 76-130), 'The motive elements of Javanese Islam', we

pass from the diachronic to the synchronic perspective. In his general
introduction to this chapter, Lombard discusses Clifford Geertz's well-
known distinction of the three groups of which he believed Javanese
society to be composed: the abangan or villagers, the santri or merchants,
and the priyayi or descendants of the traditional aristocracy and
bureaucracy, each adhering to its own variant of Islam. Lombard (rightly, in
my opinion) strongly objects to this tripartition, which lacks a general
structure. Abangan and priyayi together are of a different social order from
santri. In addition, the santri do not constitute a single category, but can
be divided into: (a) the bourgeoisie d'affaires in the cities (and as such,
the heirs of the original bringers of Islam to Java), and (b) the peasantry,
forming the nucleus of rural Islam in the rural areas. Until recently, group
(a) was politically organized in the Masyumi party, group (b) in the
Nahdatul Ulama. It is worth noting that already in this introductory section
there is evidence of the tendency of the chapter as a whole towards a more
precise specification, and thereby correction, of the usual association of
Islam with commerce.
Section A (pp. 80-91) deals with 'The people of the sea'. It contains
three photographs of modern Bugis sailing vessels, referring back to two
earlier depictions (p. 23) of ships on Borobudur reliëfs (I am giving this
detail as an example of the interaction between the text and the
illustrations, and between earlier and later sections, in each of the three
volumes). Two seafaring ethnic groups are distinguished: (1) the Orang
Laut, numbering about one million, with 220,000 ships, engaged in fishing
and trade; and (2) the Bugis of South Celebes, one of the most prosperous
peoples of the archipelago (p. 80). Although compared with them and with •
the Malays, the Javanese might appear to have played only a minor role,
earlier and later data have proved otherwise. Consequently we may count
the Javanese as the third of the seafaring peoples. The Javanese fleet
which sailed against Malaka in 1513 was described by De Barros as
formidable. In addition, the 19th- and 20th-century data (pp. 85-8) support
 Review Articles • 121

the decision to include the Javanese among the 'people of the seas'.
Section B (pp. 91-110), 'The Trading "bourgeoisies"', discusses the
trading centres of Sumatra. These were, and to a certain extent still are,
Aceh, Medan, the Batak lands (trading in oil palms), and Minangkabau (oil
palms and coffee). Malaka also was of importance to Javanese traders.
Among the batik cloth dealers in central Java several religious, educational,
and economie movements sprang up (e.g., the Muhammadiyah, founded in
1912).
Section C (pp. 110-30), 'The networks of rural Islam', draws a parallel
between the economy of the trading centres of the coastal area via which
Islam was introduced and the economy of the inland regions, where land
ownership was an important factor (p. 110). A map on p. 113 illustrates the
'Islamization of Central and East Java', which took place from the east,
namely from Demak as starting-point. The author draws a, quite original,
comparison between three Hindu-Javanese and Islamic institutions in Java,
namely: (a) the tax-exempt religious communities (Hindu dharma or
perdikan, Muslim wakaf); (b) the pupil-teacher relationship (Hindu sisya-
guru, Muslim murid-kiyayi); and (c) the custom for young scholars to
travel to religious training centres (Hindu dharma, Muslim pesantrèn) for
instruction (p. 118). In the early colonial period, the Java War of 1825-1830
prompted the Dutch government to take measures which had a strong
effect on the functioning of Islamic institutions in Java. So it introduced
the 'priesterraden'' (councils of priests) and the 'guru-ordonnantie' (by-
law on teachers), which stipulated that teachers or guru must ask for
official permission to start a pesantrèn. Snouck Hurgronje was the first of
many to object strongly to these measures, particularly the first, pointing
out that Islam has no 'priests', nor any form of trial by 'councils' (p. 122).
In the early years of the Republic, differences in these Islamic institutions
between the Sunda region and the Javanese rural areas gave rise to
problems, for which a compromise was found (p. 123).

In the title of Chapter 3 (pp. 131-208), 'The Islamic stimulus', the word
'stimulus' might appear unjustified to many Europeans, as they believe
they brought modernity to the area and feel that Malays lack a sense of
history (p. 132). The author states, in contradiction with this latter point,
that there are three types of indigenous text which inform us about the
social context of major ports like Malaka and Johor in the 16th and 17th
centuries, namely (1) normative texts such as the Undang-Undang and
Undang-Undang Laut; (2) normative and edifying texts, for instance the
works of Hamzah Fansuri; and (3) exemplifying or edifying texts, such as
the Bustanu '1-Salatin. All this is relevant for our study of the literature of
the Javanese pasisir, for instance, of the Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai, of which
a copy was made at Raffles' request after a manuscript in Demak (p. 134).
The exposition on pp. 132-4 is typical of the enlightening use of details in
this work. It is moreover illustrative of Lombard's procedure throughout
 122 . Review Articles

the work, involving the highly original use of the results of the basic
research of others.
The three sections of this chapter each have a different approach.
Whereas Section A is soc/ological in character, B deals with personality
types, and the approach in C is cognitive.
Section A (pp. 135-55), 'A new type of society', has as theme the
transition from Malaka to Java (the Javanese pasisir), which is discussed
on the basis of data from, for example, Tomé Pires and Raffles. An
important social development was the rise of the patih, the homines novi,
who were enriched by trade. Two social processes played a major role here,
namely the increase in financial transactions (on which many details are
given, pp. 137-44) and the re-structuring of relations of dependence, by
which Lombard refers to the patron-client relationship introduced with
Islam. The rise of slavery, fïnally, was attributable to the Dutch. In this
connection it should be understood that neither the cliënt nor the slave are
to be regarded as mere 'objects', the law-books giving the abdi (slaves)
their own place in society and affording them protection. About Islam
(with which this volume is mainly concerned) it is noted that it explicitly
distinguishes between three social classes, namely orang kaya, orang
layak (also called rakyai), and pakir or miskin. No less important are the
egalitarian features of Islam, which are reflected in the internal arrangement
of mosques and the 'egalitarian' disposition of gravestones in burial
grounds (p. 152). In fact, in Islam the ruler no longer is regarded as a
supernatural being but, as the Tajus-Salatin puts it, 'as a human being
among his subjects'. The new law-books.strive to achieve a kind of fusion
between adat and Allah's law. It is in this period of Islamization that
Malay became the lingua franca of the entire archipelago.
Section B (pp. 155-76), 'The origin of the notion of the individual
person', points out that the concept of 'self' is encountered in the late-
16th-century works of Hamzah Fansuri, for instance in the phrase 'kenal
dirimü1 (be mindful of yourselves). Reflection on death is part of the same
context (see, for example, G.W.J: Drewes, An Early Javanese Code of
Muslim Ethics, 1978). Also in the same connection we find the notion that
the multifarious phenomena of the world are all imbued with the same
essence - so that J. Zoetmulder (1935) justifiably uses the term 'pantheism'
with respect to this mode of thinking in Javanese suluk literature.
Section C (pp. 175-206), 'Towards a concept of geographical space and
linear time', deals with prevalent notions of space and time. The author first
pauses to consider what maps and descriptions of their country by
'foreigners' were known to the Javanese. The Arab maps by Idrisi (1154)
may be the earliest, but it is not certain that the Javanese were acquainted
with them. The Chinese maps (1292, 1293) may be based on Javanese
archive material. As far as early Portuguese geography of this region is
concerned, Van Leur points out that around 1505 a Portuguese ship was
found to have a compass and a map on board. Finally, there are the Bugis
 Review Articles 123

maritime maps as described in an article by Le Roux and Cense (1935). The

author next deals with the Javanese conception of the universe as a system
of concentric circles, with the capital of Java as its centre, which is
followed by a concept of the inhabited world as a system of cross-roads. In
a situation of international contacts such as we have here, ports are of
course important centres. Accordingly we are given plans, with
annotations, of Banten, Cirebon and Surabaya (pp. 188-93). The concept
of time (pp. 203-8) changed inversely to that of space: whereas the notion
of space, as we saw, changed from a simple to a complex one, the concept
of time changed from complex to simple. As the years came to be
numbered, a new, chronological style of historical writing (Silsilah) came
into being. In the same vein a chronology of wayang texts was compiled,
at the instigation of Prince Mangkunegara IV (1853-1881), which
distinguished between a wayang purwa, wayang tnadya and wayang
gedog.

Chapter 4 (pp. 209-86), 'The Chinese legacy', begins with a quotation

from a publication of 1778 which mentions Chinese activity in arak
distilling and katjang, indigo, fruit and vegetable growing (pp. 214-21).
Now, two centuries later, only fruit and vegetable growing are still Chinese
activities. The Chinese contribution to 'industrial agriculture' has been
considerable, however (p. 213). There was also Chinese influence on (the
introduction of) road-building and metal-working. In 1655 Nieuhof wrote
that the Chinese 'surpass all Indische (i.e., Indonesian) peoples in seafaring
and agriculture' (p. 233). The comparison of the role of the Chinese in Asia
to that of the Jews in Europe has been one of the clichés of colonial
literature (p. 235).
The Chinese also introduced the abacus, and Van Hogendorp noted
around 1830 that even petty Chinese tradesmen regularly kept accounts. It
is further noteworthy that in the 19th century the Chinese adopted two
important European commercial practices: the use of trademarks and
advertising.
No fewer than thirteen pages (pp. 266-79) are then devoted to 'A sense
of comfort', dealing with the amenities of everyday life - the history of
which still remains to be written! For this reason, I shall only mention the
features that are briefly touched on here. These features are in the domains
of house building, dress, furniture, pottery, lacquerware, bronze
kitchenware, food (with a memorable reference to the Old Ice House, next
door to the Coleman Building in Singapore), medicines, entertainment, and
the theatre. A final section of four pages lists the words of Chinese origin
used in this chapter, both in Chinese script and Roman transcription.

The final chapter, 5 (pp. 278-308), is of a more theoretical nature, as its title,
'Fanaticism or tolerance?', indicates. As in the concluding chapter of
Volume I, the question that arises here is how much foreign (i.e., Islamic and
 124 Review Articles

Chinese) influence really penetrated Javanese culture. If Javanese culture

is really as 'permeable' as it appears to be, then we should pause to
consider if this is due to its also being non-normative. This question is dealt
with in three chronologically arranged sections.
Section A (pp. 288-96), 'An Islam without superstitions?', deals with the
question to what extent Islam has really been integrated into Javanese
culture. Islam in Indonesia is of the Shafi'ite school, and so is Sunnite, but it
also includes an element of mysticism. In contrast to Islam in India, for
example, one cannot speak of its having been introduced 'through
conquest'. In the 15th and 16th centuries, in the period of Demak,
acculturation took place, and in the 17th and 18th centuries there was
further assimilation. Finally, from the early 19th century to the present, the
'royal ideology' has declined, while contacts with the Hijaz and Egypt
increased. This, along with the fact that the work of Mohammad Abduh
(1849-1905) became known in Indonesia, is one of the factors responsible
for the rise of 'reform' and 'purification' movements such as that of the
Padri of West Sumatra and Muhammadiyah. This process continued after
Indonesian independence. In South Celebes, for instance, there were
actions against bissu as a non-Islamic phenomenon.
Section B (pp. 296-301), The struggle with the infidel', puts the same
question with regard to Christianity. The thesis here is that when Indonesia
achieved independence, the biased view that Christianity was the religion
of the 'colonial masters' lost all relevance and meaning.
Section C (pp. 301-8), 'Rivalry and its functions', finally, deals with the
relations between Indonesians and Chinese since independence. Until the
18th century, Chinese immigrants merged with the indigenous population,
and seventeenth-century English reports spoke of 'Javanized Chinese'.
There were special mosques for these peranakan, for instance. However, in
1825, in Dipanegara's time, a group of about one hundred Chinese was
completely wiped out (p. 303).
With the departure of the Dutch, the Javanese and Chinese bourgeoisies
were left standing in opposition to one another. The Chinese now had to
opt for Chinese or Indonesian nationality, and if they opted for the latter,
they became citizens 'of the second order'. It is in this context that we
must place the 1966 massacre of Chinese in Sukabumi for celebrating their
capgomé (New Year) festival too noisily. The government took a series of
measures designed to play down the Chinese identity as well, for example
prohibiting the use of the polite term Tionghoa instead of Cina for Chinese
(p. 308).

Whereas Volumes I and II both deal with coastal areas, Volume III,
l'Héritage des royaumes concentriques (The heritage of concentric
kingdoms), is focused on the interior. It begins with an introduction
entitled 'The limits of "Indianization"' (pp. 9-14). Here the author points
out that 75% of the population of Java dwells in the interior, where it has
 Review Articles 125

converted forests into rice fields. From the fifth to the fourteenth centuries
these inhabitants came under the influence of 'concentric kingdoms', with
the royal palace in the centre. A map of Indonesia on p. 10 shows the limits
of Islamic and Indian (i.e., Hindu and Buddhist) influence respectively.
Between roughly 1898 and 1918 there were major advances in our
knowledge of Hindu Java. This not only was of importance for scholarship
but also deeply influenced the ideology of the Javanese themselves.
However, there were also reactions against the notion of 'Indianization', as
formulated by Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana and Soekarno, objecting to the
idea that the 'Indianized' states were the progenitors of independent
Indonesia in statu nascendi.

Chapter 1 (pp. 15-54), 'Rice cultivation by divine right', is summarized by

the author himself on page 54.
Section A (pp. 17-26), 'The gradual elaboration of Javanese kingship',
deals with the continuity of the long process of evolution of kingship -
that is to say, in the agrarian kingdoms. Until 1825, the conversion of forest
areas to agricultural land followed the pattern of the 'concentric kingdom'.
Section B (pp. 26-36), 'The crisis of the agrarian state, 15th to 16th
centuries', describes the changes that took place after the Java War. These
were: the kings' loss of power, though not of prestige; a population
increase leading to the growth of cities and the decline of the 'concentric
kingdom'; and, in consequence, the growing importance of trade and
money. In spite of these developments, the ideal of the concentric state
persists, as will be described in the following chapters.
There are further a Section C (pp. 36-48), 'The renaissance of Mataram,
late 16th to early 19th centuries', and D (pp. 48-54), 'Demographic
expansion, decline of the royal status, and emergence of a rural elite, from
the "Java War" to the present'.

Chapter 2 (pp. 57-87), 'A hierarchical society', is the first of the chapters to
pursue the themes of Chapter 1. It points out that there is a contrast
between the cultures of the pasisir towns, which allowed a measure of
individual freedom, and of the agrarian kingdoms of the interior, which
were more strongly hierarchical.
Section A (pp. 56-66), 'The king, axis of the world', deals with the ruler.
In Java, as in Funan and Cambodia, the concept of the 'King of the
Mountain' was an important notion. In Java the idea of the king as 'axis of
the world' still remains, as does the notion of the Queen of the South (Ratu
Kidul), associated with the Mataram dynasty. The author concludes by
listing a number of features of the conduct of particular prominent
personalities in which 'modern' activities were seen to leave room for
certain 'ancient' practices (p. 66). He draws a parallel between the modern
Taman Mini Indonesia and the representation in a passage in the
Nagarakertagama of the capital of the kingdom as a reflection in miniature
126 Review Articles

of the kingdom as a whole.

Section B (pp. 66-74), 'The burden of officialdom', is focused on the
bureaucracy. It gives examples of the flexibility and the permanent
homogeneity of the official hierarchy in the Mataram period (p. 67). In the
colonial period, and in particular in independent Indonesia, the number of
officials grew excessively, rising from 103,000 in 1932 (of whom 17,000
were Dutch) to 541,000 in 1971.
Section C (pp. 74-84), 'The "resilience" of the village', discusses the
villagers. It begins by listing the various types of village in Java. So among
the Baduy, for example, one observes inner and outer villages. Of these, the
inner villages must always keep the number of their inhabitants constant; if
necessary, their population may be replenished with inhabitants of outer
villages. Perdikan villages, as their name implies, are practically
autonomous villages, in contrast to villages which are first and foremost
nodal points in trade networks. The rituals of villagers are very similar to
those of the court: the aim of both is to achieve harmony between mankind
and the universe. The wayang kulit, which also has sacrificial aspects, and
the 'game' Nini Towong, which is also a ritual, serve the same purpose of
maintaining the equilibrium between the village and the macrocosm. This
section ends with an attempt to establish from whom the headmen (lurah
and kepala kampung) derive their authority.
Section D (pp. 84-7), 'The role of women', observes that there were
women occupying important positions in the Majapahit period, for
example, Rajapatni. The same thing is to be observed in the pantheon,
which includes goddesses like Dewi Sri and Durga, also called Uma (p. 86),
among others.

Chapter 3 (pp. 89-127), 'A desire for harmony', states that the Javanese
court, as the centre, presented itself as halus, in opposition to the rural
districts and Islam, which were kasar. Recently, Java has made attempts to
overcome its insularity and to present itself to the world as a whole. This is
in total contrast to Malaysia, which is cosmopolitan but has so far failed to
present itself to the world in a cultural respect (p. 90).
Section A (pp. 90-9), 'A system of correspondences', discusses De
Casparis' finding that the Plaosan Lor (9th century), Prambanan, and Séwu
temples mark the centre of the kingdom, which was surrounded by vassals.
Lombard adds that the same applies to the Mataram period: the centre is
surrounded by the four cardinal points, mancapat. The same system is
applied to time, where a week has four-plus-one-days. These remarks are
followed by more data on the calendar and chronology (pp. 94-5), in
which 'tout a un sens' (everything has meaning).
Section B (pp. 99-115), 'The city as a Mandala', states that the ordered,
systematic city plan was characteristic of, for example, Kyoto and Angkor,
and also of Surakarta (founded in 1745). Many further details and plans of
cities and palaces on the following pages illustrate this (pp. 102-4, 107). An
 Review Articles 127

luminating little detail showing the persistence of old concepts is that

'hen in October 1985 the sacred elephant died in Yogya's zoo, this
;ceived wide publicity 'in the whole of the Javanese press' (p. 109). The
ïeme of persistence, or even transformation, of the 'old' in 'modern' times
; also illustrated by the re-introduction of the garebeg festival in Yogya
n 1971) and Solo (1972). The present-day rice deliveries to the kraton
ïark the kraton as the place where Ie cru (the raw) becomes Ie cuit (the
ooked) and where, to the present day, kasar becomes halus.
In Section C (pp. 118-27), 'Equilibrium and adhesion', the conclusion
rawn from what went before is that we are dealing here with a concentric
'orld, based on correspondences between ordered elements. So everyone
ïust be in agreement with the model of kingship. To make this clear is the
isk of educators and the wayang theatre. As regards the wayang, this is
xplained by means of a summary (pp. 118-9) of the Standard basic
:ructure of lakon, 'in which, as we observe once more, the microcosm is
bsolutely inseparable from the macrocosm' (p. 119).

Ihapter 4 (pp. 129-50), 'Immobility or movement?', puts the question that

; central not only to this chapter, but to the whole book, namely whether
ie Javanese system is as 'solid' as it appears to be, and whether it is able
) cope with foreign ideologies. Where the theme of Volume I was that
'estern-type modernity tends to collide with Javanese traditions, and that
f Volume II that Islamic orthodoxy has had to adapt itself to indigenous
ivanese forms of belief, we should be careful not to exaggerate these
lichés. For there is also flexibility, such as in the apanage system, in
ïarriages between nobles and commoners, and so on. However, as the
umerous revolts (as described in local chronicles and Dutch reports)
idicate, not all Javanese always conformed to the norm of 'harmony'. This
; the theme of the following sections.
Section A (pp. 130-42), 'The winding paths of the dissatisfied', gives
xamples of deviations from the norm. So the Kalang are a deviant group;
ïey are wanderers, and therefore held in contempt by the sedentary
opulation. A similar case concerns the peregrinations of Bhujangga
lanik around 1500 (see map on page 134, after Noorduyn in BKI 138). A
avanese work devoted to the description of such travels and wanderings
; that 'masterpiece of world literature', the Serat Centini (p. 135). This
'ork deals with the decline of forests and wastelands caused by
ncroaching agriculture. Lombard comments here that this was one of the
ïost important social phenomena of the 19th and 20th centuries, although
is seldom referred to in Javanese literature (this comment is typical of
ombard's consistent attempt to draw social conclusions from an analysis
f the indigenous literature). A more recent literary example is furnished by
ramoedya Ananta Toer's novel Perburuan (1959, but set in the period
943-1945), which shows how the hero escapes Japanese vigilance, and
iter how the Indonesian Republican guerrillas lead a wandering life.
 128 Review Articles

It is remarkable how the circle closes in this Volume III, incidentally. For
in this volume, which deals with the earliest of the three principal periods in
Javanese history, one continually comes across 20th-century parallels.
This also applies to Section B (pp. 142-50), 'Rebellion as a safety-
valve?', where the discussion of the Hindu Javanese period again is carried
through to the present. In spite of everything, it points out, there were also
revolts in Java. In contrast to Europe, where revolts occurred mainly in
urban areas, in Hindu Java they affected the rural areas. A more recent
example is the Cilegon revolt of around 1888. These revolts have seldom
been studied. One could study them as a whole by concentrating either on
the differences or on the similarities between them. As an example of the
first approach, one might observe that such revolts tend to originate among
the abangan (as in the case of Saminism) or may be inspired Islam. If we
concentrate on the similarities, we might take note of 'revivalist'
movements among the peasantry and political movements since the early
20th century.

The author begins his 'Final considerations; On the virtues of the Javanese
case' (pp. 151-7) by remarking that, to the three volumes of this book
actually published, a fourth might have been added to deal with the
'proto-history of Java'. This could have demonstrated the links with the
cultures of Oceania, which have been less affected by the cultures of
Continental Asia. Examples of this particular approach are provided by
W.H. Rassers' work on pondok, the kayon, and initiation rituals.
It is important to note that in Java 'modernity' was not introduced by
the Portuguese or the Dutch, but by Islam. A striking development here
was that, after the flourishing of maritime sultanates, the power again
passed to agrarian states.
A remarkable feature of Javanese towns is that they are agrarian, having
close ties with the surrounding rural areas (pp. 154-5), as becomes apparent
during the garebeg festival, for example. This is quite contrary to the
situation in Europe, but corresponds to that in other Asian states, such as in
Angkor, Sukhotai, and Pagan, but also in Ceylon, China and Japan. In Java,
the city should be studied as a centre of trade and of government, for, as
elsewhere in Indonesia, there is a fundamental opposition between
agricultural areas and 'the world of the networks' (p. 155).
A central event in the history of Java was the destruction of Surabaya
by Sultan Agung in 1625. Hereby Mataram destroyed the 'capitalist'
Pasisir. In other words, the agricultural state was victorious over the coastal
region. This event should not be judged negatively, however. It is thanks
to the vertus fédératrlces of this agricultural state that Indonesia as a
whole exists.
The conflict between an agrarian centre and the pasisir is to be
observed in other parts of Indonesia as well. So in Celebes the inland
kingdoms of Wajo and Soppeng were surpassed by the coastal states of
 Review Articles 129

Makassar and Boné. In Sumatra there is a latent conflict between inland

Minangkabau and coastal Tiku and Pariaman, and between the inland
Batak and coastal Deli and Medan. In other words, there is constant
dynamism in the situation. South-East Asian states which now are great
were fortunate in being located at crossroads (hence the title of the book),
where they were able to benefit from a number of different influences at
the same time (p. 157).

I would like to conclude this excessively long review by noting a few

general features of the book. The most conspicuous one is that it is not
based on, nor sets out to prove, any general theory. For example, the 'Field
of Anthropological Studies' approach to Indonesian studies is not applied,
or even mentioned. This partly explains the length of this review: it has to
do justice to the many facts presented, and allow them to speak their own
language.
In general the data presented, for instance in Volume II, are not new. The
interpretation of these data - that is to say, the use made of them - is novel,
however. The result in this particular case is a broad and balanced
presentation of the author's own interpretation and characterization of the
Indonesian-foreign relationship.
As I have pointed out before, one question the reader might ask is why
the work is arranged in reverse chronological order. A brief answer given
by the author himself in the concluding passages of Volume I (p. 206) is
that the mass internment of communists, who strongly objected to
westernization, 'proved that the latter ideal was not a matter of course in
Indonesia', so that we need to go back in history to discover the deeper
levels in which this resistance had its roots. Another reason for this
'inverse chronology', as I suggested above, could be that we simply have
the largest amount of relevant data for the most recent period, so that their
analysis may serve as a guide in the interpretation of historically more
distant periods.
Still on the subject of chronology, it may be observed that one of the
most commendable features of the book is that it is not 'presentological'.
In other words, it never tries to show how particular historical events and
situations are still to be observed in the present.
The book's great merit, of course, flows from the author's formidable
command of the Hterature (in all the relevant languages!), which he uses for
the purpose of determining which of the various foreign influences were
accepted and adopted, and for what specific reasons.