UNS — The History Lab Vorstenlanden Study in Faculty of Cultural Studies (FIB) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, hosted a webinar on Vorstenlanden Multicultural Community, Saturday (13/2/2021). Two speakers are invited in this webinar, namely, Prof. Heddy Shri Ahimsa Putra (anthropologist from Universitas Gadjah Mada-UGM Yogyakarta) and Dr. Susanto (Head of Historical Science Study Program FIB UNS).
On this occasion, Dr. Susanto delivers material on “Vorstenlanden Multicultural Community: Surakarta in Colonial Era”, which started with the origin of the word Vorstenlanden. This term is known since the Giyanti Agreement in 1755. However, the term gained its popularity during the end of the Diponegoro War, because the boundaries of Vorstenlanden’s territory are getting clearer.
“This region is special because it has two applicable laws. One is the traditional law, which applicable in the territory of the four Javanese rulers (Kasunanan, Kasultanan, Mangkunegaran, and Pakualaman) and the Dutch law, which applicable in a white community residence,” Dr. Susanto explains.
Further, Dr. Susanto states that there are two governmental regions, namely Zelfbestuursgebied and Gouvernementsgebied. In this matter, most of the regions outside the Vorstenlanden are Gouvernementsgebied. Those regions are Semarang, Kedu, Malang, Batavia, and other regions outside the Java island. This provision further clarifies the Vorstenlanden region as a special region. “The term Vorstenlanden ends during the Japanese occupation in Indonesia, or specifically after the Surakarta and Yogyakarta status was changed into an autonomous region or Kochi,” Dr. Susanto explains.
In front of the webinar participants, Dr. Susanto also discusses the communities that resided in Vorstenlanden. He explains that the determination of Surakarta as a new city replacing Kartasura is not only forming the physical environment of the new city. The existence of Surakarta also formed a new social community, although the profile of the community formed in this city was similar to the environment in Kartasura, which is the white community.
“The existence of this community highly dependent on the existence of the fort. The said fort is the Grootmoedigheid Fort built by VOC in 1745,” he added. The white community in Surakarta, according to Dr. Susanto consists of garrison soldiers. They can be classified as the first white community residents in Surakarta.
Continuing Dr. Susanto’s discussion, Prof. Heddy discusses ‘Multiculturalism in Vorstenlanden’. Prof. Heddy mentioned that according to the Furnivall of Surakarta-Yogyakarta residents, especially in Vorstenlanden, are a plural society that interacts without mixing and mixed but not converged. “Each group has their ‘religion’, culture, and language. They have different ideas and procedures or customs,” he explains.
In Surakarta and Yogyakarta, there are different communities such as the Dutch from Europe, Arabian and Chinese from the Foreign East, and Javanese as the indigenous resident, which establish racial lines. “The Dutch resided in Manahan (Solo) and Kota Baru (Yogyakarta). Arabian in Pasar Kliwon (Solo) and Sayyidan (Yogyakarta), the Chinese in Balong and Pasar Gede (Solo) and Ketandan (Yogyakarta), thus there are residential enclaves,” Prof. Heddy Shri Ahimsa states.
Through his material, Prof. Heddy states that the Vorstenlanden community in the colonial era is not multicultural. This is because a plural community must show an effort to respect for differences, respect for other cultures, and a desire to understand other cultures. “Those characteristics become the indicators to determine the multiculturality of a community,” he explains. Humas UNS
Reporter: Yefta Christopherus AS
Editor: Dwi Hastuti