HISTORY OF JOGJA, The Drum Band and The Monarchy

September 10, 2010 | About Us | Contact Us

Explore Jogja Category : Portrait of Jogja
HISTORY OF JOGJA, The Drum Band and The Monarchy

HISTORY OF JOGJA, The Drum Band and The Monarchy It was 18 Celsius in Jogjakarta. At 5 am, just a few people went out from their house. Not much activity in that cold morning. The street was quiet. In the north, there were nebulous sound, came through the mist and passed away kampong settlement along Code River. It was a harmonic composition, beat on a drum sound, not just one drum, but lots of drums. People says that if we try to seek it in the north, the sound moves on south, if we seek it to the west, the sound moves to the east. They name Drum Band Soul.

Nobody knows where the sound comes from, human, lost soul or nature phenomenon. Mysteriously, it only sounds in the morning and the evening. The urban legend lives in daily life of Jogjakarta. Not only the drum band soul, other urban legends, as Nyai Roro Kidul, Merapi Mountain, Sacred Tress at the Alun-alun, etc. Yes, it is just like an ancient city where its citizen life with legends, curse and local tradition. Not only those ancient customs which continually linger on their daily life but also the modern one. Jogjakarta is in the middle of modern and tradition.

Yogyakarta was the centre of the Mataram Dynasty,after Giyanti Agreement in 1755, Sultan Hamengkubuwono I, a prince who has being exiled from Kasunanan Castle, moved to the south. He built a new palace on the new site, about 60 kilometers from his ex-castle. First, the palace was located in Imogiri and then moved to Gamping, the last one it was moved to the inner city, as we know now. People say that Hamengkubuwono got a sign from his dream, so he needed move in.

The development of city based on the Jogjakarta Palace, as inner city, central of the mind and heart of citizen. Hamengkubuwono built a huge fortress with 20 meters high. The fortress is the center of economic, military and culture of the empire. Old kampongs could saw in the old city area, as Tamansari, Kauman Ngasem, etc. Although it was an old kampongs, the modern life has came fast.

After the independence of the Republic of Indonesia was proclaimed, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX and Sri Paku Alam VIII launched a statement that the Kasultanan and Kadipaten (the two royal regions), belonged to Republic of Indonesia as a part of the whole area of Indonesia Republic. Since then, it has been known as Yogyakarta Special Region.

Jogjakarta is a unique provincial government. It is the only province in Indonesia where the province government is leaded by the monarchy. As we know, Sultan also the king of Jogjakarta Palace too. The policy resolved after the Jogjakarta monarchy was installing its authority into part of Indonesian Republic in 1945. In the independence struggle era, the monarchy of Jogjakarta also was giving financial support to the republic.

Jogjakarta Province has 6 administration districts, named kabupaten. They are Bantul, Sleman, Kota Jogjakarta, Kulonprogo and Gunung Kidul. Each kabupaten has political leader, named bupati who elected by citizen every 5 years. Some unique place also being tourist destination, for example Sleman has tens of agro villages, or Gunung Kidul has beautiful white-sand beach and nature caves.