Solo The Spirit of Java – oldies

Surakarta at Glance

The history of Surakarta began when Sunan Paku Buwana II ordered Tumenggung Honggowongso, Tumenggung Mangkuyudo, and the Dutch Army Commander J. A. B Van Hohendorff to find the location to set up the new capital city of the Mataram Kingdom. After considering physical and non-physical factors, in 1746 AD or 1671 of Javanese calendar) a village near Bengawan river called Sala was chosen. Since then, Sala has turned into Surakarta Hadiningrat and continued developing.

Under the Giyanti treaty, 13 February 1755, the Islamic Mataram Kingdom was divided into Surakarta and Yogyakarta. Under the Salatiga treaty, the Surakarta Kingdom was divided into Kasunanan and Mangkunegaran.

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FROM the historical facts, the development of Surakarta was very much affected by the roles of the Kasunanan goverment, Mangkunegaran government, Vastenburg Fort as the centre for the Dutch close surveilence on the Surakarta Kingdom, and Pasar Gede Hardjanagara market as the town’s centre of economy. The roles of those places had formed the cultural area with the Kasunanan Kingdom as the centre. Further development continued around this region to this day.

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“ Yen wis kliwat separo abad, jwa kongsi binabad “
This sentence means “When a building ages more than half a century, we shouldn’t destroy it…”
[ Ronggowarsito ]