UNS — The people of Kota Bengawan (City of Bengawan) often call their city with different names, Solo, Sala, and Surakarta. Due to these names, confusion came not only to people outside the city but also to people living in the city. People like to call the town with Solo or Surakarta, while on the spelling and pronunciation, they use “Solo” and “Sala”. Seeking an answer for the public confusion and the story behind these names, uns.ac.id visited the Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies (FIB) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Prof. Warto.
In his office in Building 3 FIB UNS, Tuesday (16/2/2021), Prof. Warto explained the history behind the name of Solo and Sala. He said that the first name was Sala because the city is located on Bengawan Solo riverbank, which initially was a “perdikan” (area exempted from tax during Dutch East Indies) village named Sala village. The village was led by Kiai named Ki Gede Sala or Kiai Sala.
“It is a name with a long history. So, Solo city, which we know today, started from a displacement of a kingdom from Kartosuro to Surakarta (red: Sala village) in 1745,” Prof. Warto explained.
Then, together with the Dutch people’s arrival, the name Sala which initially uses “a” changed into “o” and the name Solo was born. s“With ‘a’. Remember that Javanese letter ‘o’ and ‘a’ has a vital difference. Sala is written in the Javanese alphabet nglegena or without vowels. If taling-tarung (red: o vowel in Javanese letter) is added, it becomes ‘o’ thus, So–lo. The reason it became Solo is that Dutch finds difficulty pronouncing Sala,” he explained.
Prof. Warto, who is also Professor in Historical Science UNS, also explained that Sala village formed into a kingdom with the establishment of Keraton (Palace) Surakarta Hadiningrat. The village was selected based on the consideration from Tumenggung (royal position) Hanggawangsa, Tumenggung Mangkuyudha, and JAB van Hohendorff after Keraton Kartasura was destroyed because of Geger Pecinan.
Geger Pecinan occurred as a result of a coup in 1740. Even after the kingdom was secured afterward, Pakubuwana II, the king at the time, considered the area to have lost its “sanctity” and moved the palace to a new location. Sala village was then selected as the new location. Sala is a village occupied by Keraton Surakarta Hadiningrat and its monarch, Pakubuwana.
“What’s the difference between Sala and Surakarta? Surakarta is the name of the kingdom. It is the same with Keraton Kartosuro after moved to Sala village,” he added.
Over time, as the name of a kingdom, Surakarta is adopted as the official name for the administrative city. As an official name, the correct writing is Surakarta City. Therefore, Solo or Sala is a popular name used in daily conversation. However, the different term does not change the substances. Humas UNS
Reporter: Yefta Christopherus AS
Editor: Dwi Hastuti