ago emphasized by Friedrich Junghuhn, the Humboldt of Java, who
divided the island into four vertical botanical zones--a division
which has generally been accepted by his successors, though, like all
such divisions, it is subject to many modifications and exceptions.
The forest, or hot zone, extends to a height of 2000 ft. above the
sea; the second, that of moderate heat, has its upper limit at about
4500; the third, or cool, zone reaches 7500; and the fourth, or
coldest, comprises all that lies beyond. The lowest zone has, of
course, the most extensive area; the second is only a fiftieth and the
third a five-thousandth of the first; and the fourth is an
insignificant remainder. The lowest is the region of the true tropical
forest, of rice-fields and sugar-plantations, of coco-nut palms,
cotton, sesamum, cinnamon and tobacco (though this last has a wide
altitudinal range). Many parts of the coast (especially on the north)
are fringed with mangrove (_Rhizophora mucronata_), &c., and species
of _Bruguiera_; the downs have their characteristic flora--convolvulus
and _Spinifex squarrosus_ catching the eye for very different
reasons. Farther inland along the seaboard appear the nipa dwarf palm
(_Nipa fruticans_), the _Alsbonia scholaris_ (the wood of which is
lighter than cork), Cycadacea, tree-ferns, screw pines (_Pandanus_),
&c. In west Java the gebang palm (_Corypha gebanga_) grows in clumps
and belts not far from but never quite close to the coast; and in east
Java a similar position is occupied by the lontar (_Borassus
flabelliformis_), valuable for its timber, its sago and its sugar, and
in former times for its leaves, which were used as a writing-material.
The fresh-water lakes and ponds of this region are richly covered with
Utricularia and various kinds of lotus (_Nymphaea lotus_, _N.
stellata_, _Nelumbium speciosum_, &c.) interspersed with _Pista
stratiotes_ and other floating plants. Vast prairies are covered with
the silvery alang-alang grass broken by bamboo thickets, clusters of
trees and shrubs (_Butea frondosa_, _Emblica officinalis_, &c.) and
islands of the taller erigedeh or glagah (_Saccharum spontaneum_).
Alang-alang (_Imperata arundinacea_, Cyr. var. Bentham) grows from 1
to 4 ft. in height. It springs up wherever the ground is cleared of
trees and is a perfect plague to the cultivator. It cannot hold its
own, however, with the ananas, the kratok (_Phaseolus lunatus_) or the
lantana; and, in the natural progress of events, the forest resumes
its sway except where the natives encourage the young growth of the
grass by annually setting the prairies on fire. The true forest, which
occupies a great part of this region, changes its character as we
proceed from west to east. In west Java it is a dense rain-forest in
which the struggle of existence is maintained at high pressure by a
host of lofty trees and parasitic plants in bewildering profusion. The
preponderance of certain types is remarkable. Thus of the Moraceae
there are in Java (and mostly here) seven genera with ninety-five
species, eighty-three of which are _Ficus_ (see S. H. Koorders and T.
Valeton, "Boomsoorten op Java" in _Bijdr. Mede. Dep. Landbower_
(1906). These include the so-called waringin, several kinds of figs
planted as shade-trees in the parks of the nobles and officials. The
Magnoliaceae and Anonaceae are both numerously represented. In middle
Java the variety of trees is less, a large area being occupied by
teak. In eastern Java the character of the forest is mainly determined
by the abundance of the Casuarina or Chimoro (_C. montana_ and _C.
Junghuhniana_). Another species, _C. equisetifolia_, is planted in
west Java as an ornamental tree. These trees are not crowded together
and encumbered with the heavy parasitic growths of the rain-forest;
but their tall stems are often covered with multitudes of small
vermilion fungi. Wherever the local climate has sufficient humidity,
the true rain-forest claims its own. The second of Junghuhn's zones is
the region of, more especially, tea, cinchona and coffee plantations,
of maize and the sugar palm (areng). In the forest the trees are
richly clad with ferns and enormous fungi; there is a profusion of
underwood (_Pavetta macrophylla Javanica_ and _salicifolia_; several
species of _Lasianthus_, _Boehmarias_, _Strobilanthus_, &c.), of woody
lianas and ratans, of tree ferns (especially Alsophila). Between the
bushes the ground is covered with ferns, lycopods, tradescantias,
Bignoniaceae, species of _Aeschynanthus_. Of the lianas the largest is
_Plectocomia elongata_; one specimen of which was found to have a
length of nearly 790 ft. One of the fungi, _Telephora princeps_, is
more than a yard in diameter. The trees are of different species from
those of the hot zone even when belonging to the same genus; and new
types appear mostly in limited areas. The third zone, which consists
mainly of the upper slopes of volcanic mountains, but also comprises
several plateaus (the Dieng, parts of the Tengger, the Ijen) is a
region of clouds and mists. There are a considerable number of lakes
and swamps in several parts of the region, and these have a luxuriant
environment of grasses, Cyperaceae, Characeae and similar forms. The
taller trees of the region--oaks, chestnuts, various Lauraceae, and
four or five species of _Podocarpus_--with some striking exceptions,
_Astronia spectabilis_, &c., are less floriferous than those of the
lower zones; but the shrubs (_Rhododendron javanicum_, _Ardisia
javanica_, &c.), herbs and parasites more than make up for this
defect. There is little cultivation, except in the Tengger, where the
natives grow maize, rye and tobacco, and various European vegetables
(cabbage, potatoes, &c.), with which they supply the lowland markets.
In western Java one of the most striking features of the upper parts
of this temperate region is what Schimper calls the "absolute dominion
of mosses," associated with the "elfin forest," as he quaintly calls
it, a perfect tangle of "low, thick, oblique or even horizontal
stems," almost choked to leaflessness by their grey and ghostly
burden. Much of the lower vegetation begins to have a European aspect;
violets, primulas, thalictrums, ranunculus, vacciniums, equisetums,
rhododendrons (_Rhod. retusum_). The _Primula imperialis_, found only
on the Pangerango, is a handsome species, prized by specialists. In
the fourth or alpine zone occur such distinctly European forms as
_Artemisia vulgaris_, _Plantago major_, _Solanum nigrum_, _Stellaria
media_; and altogether the alpine flora contains representatives of no
fewer than thirty-three families. A characteristic shrub is _Anaphalis
javanica_, popularly called the Javanese edelweiss, which "often
entirely excludes all other woody plants."[11] The tallest and noblest
of all the trees in the island is the rasamala or liquid-ambar
(_Altingia excelsa_), which, rising with a straight clean trunk,
sometimes 6 ft. in diameter at the base, to a height of 100 to 130
ft., spreads out into a magnificent crown of branches and foliage.
When by chance a climbing plant has joined partnership with it, the
combination of blossoms at the top is one of the finest colour effects
of the forest. The rasamala, however, occurs only in the Preanger and
in the neighbouring parts of Bantam and Buitenzorg. Of the other trees
that may be classified as timber--from 300 to 400 species--many attain
noble proportions. It is sufficient to mention _Calophyllum
inophyllum_, which forms fine woods in the south of Bantam, _Mimusops
acuminata_, _Irna glabra_, _Dalbergia latifolia_ (sun wood, English
black-wood) in middle and east Java; the rare but splendid
_Pithecolobium Junghuhnianum_; _Schima Noronhae_, _Bischofia
javanica_, _Pterospermum javanicum_ (greatly prized for
ship-building), and the upas-tree. From the economic point of view all
these hundreds of trees are of less importance than _Tectona grandis_,
the jati or teak, which, almost to the exclusion of all others,
occupies about a third of the government forest-lands. It grows best
in middle and eastern Java, preferring the comparatively dry and hot
climate of the plains and lower hills to a height of about 2000 ft.
above the sea, and thriving best in more or less calciferous soils. In
June it sheds its leaves and begins to bud again in October.
Full-grown trees reach a height of 100 to 150 ft. In 1895 teak (with a
very limited quantity of other timber) was felled to the value of
about £101,800, and in 1904 the corresponding figure was about
£119,935.
That an island which has for so long maintained a dense and growing
population in its more cultivable regions should have such extensive
tracts of primeval or quasi-primeval forest as have been above
indicated would be matter of surprise to one who did not consider the
simplicity of the life of the Javanese. They require but little fuel;
and both their dwellings and their furniture are mostly constructed of
bamboo supplemented with a palm or two. They destroy the forest mainly
to get room for their rice-fields and pasture for their cattle. In
doing this, however, they are often extremely reckless and wasteful;
and if it had not been for the unusual humidity of the climate their
annual fires would have resulted in widespread conflagrations. As it
is, many mountains are now bare which within historic times were
forested to the top; but the Dutch government has proved fully alive
to the danger of denudation. The state has control of all the woods
and forests of the island with the exception of those of the Preanger,
the "particular lands," and Madura; and it has long been engaged in
replanting with native trees and experimenting with aliens from other
parts of the world--_Eucalyptus globulus_, the juar, _Cassia florida_
from Sumatra, the surian (_Cedrela febrifuga_), &c. The greatest
success has been with cinchona.
Left to itself Java would soon clothe itself again with even a richer
natural vegetation than it had when it was first occupied by man. The
open space left by the demolition of the fortifications on Nusa
Kambangan was in twenty-eight years densely covered by thousands of
shrubs and trees of about twenty varieties, many of the latter 80 ft.
high. Resident Snijthoff succeeded about the close of the 19th century
in re-afforesting a large part of Mount Muriå by the simple expedient
of protecting the territory he had to deal with from all encroachments
by natives.[12]
_Population._--The population of Java (including Madura, &c.) was
30,098,008 in 1905. In 1900 it was 28,746,688; in 1890, 23,912,564; and
in 1880, 19,794,505. The natives consist of the Javanese proper, the
Sundanese and the Madurese. All three belong to the Malay stock. Between
Javanese and Sundanese the distinction is mainly due to the influence of
the Hindus on the former and the absence of this on the latter. Between
Javanese and Madurese the distinction is rather to be ascribed to
difference of natural environment. The Sundanese have best retained the
Malay type, both in physique and fashion of life. They occupy the west
of the island. The Madurese area, besides the island of Madura and
neighbouring isles, includes the eastern part of Java itself. The
residencies of Tegal, Pekalongan, Banyumas, Bagelen, Kedu, Semarang,
Japara, Surakarta, Jokjakarta, Rembang, Madiun, Kediri and Surabaya have
an almost purely Javanese population. The Javanese are the most numerous
and civilized of the three peoples.
The colour of the skin in all three cases presents various shades of
yellowish-brown; and it is observed that, owing perhaps to the Hindu
strain, the Javanese are generally darker than the Sundanese. The eyes
are always brown or black, the hair of the head black, long, lank and
coarse. Neither breast nor limbs are provided with hair, and there is
hardly even the suggestion of a beard. In stature the Sundanese is less
than the Javanese proper, being little over 5 ft. in average height,
whereas the Javanese is nearly 5½ ft.; at the same time the Sundanese is
more stoutly built. The Madurese is as tall as the Javanese, and as
stout as the Sundanese. The eye is usually set straight in the head in
the Javanese and Madurese; among the Sundanese it is often oblique. The
nose is generally flat and small, with wide nostrils, although among the
Javanese it not infrequently becomes aquiline. The lips are thick, yet
well formed; the teeth are naturally white, but often filed and stained.
The cheek-bones are well developed, more particularly with the Madurese.
In expressiveness of countenance the Javanese and Madurese are far in
advance of the Sundanese. The women are not so well made as the men, and
among the lower classes especially soon grow absolutely ugly. In the
eyes of the Javanese a golden yellow complexion is the perfection of
female beauty. To judge by their early history, the Javanese must have
been a warlike and vigorous people, but now they are peaceable, docile,
sober, simple and industrious.
One million only out of the twenty-six millions of natives are
concentrated in towns, a fact readily explained by their sources of
livelihood. The great bulk of the population is distributed over the
country in villages usually called by Europeans dessas, from the Low
Javanese word _déså_ (High Javanese _dusun_). Every dessa, however small
(and those containing from 100 to 1000 families are exceptionally
large), forms an independent community; and no sooner does it attain to
any considerable size than it sends off a score of families or so to
form a new dessa. Each lies in the midst of its own area of cultivation.
The general enceinte is formed by an impervious hedge of bamboos 40 to
70 ft. high. Within this lie the houses, each with its own enclosure,
which, even when the fields are the communal property, belongs to the
individual householder. The capital of a district is only a larger
dessa, and that of a regency has the same general type, but includes
several kampongs or villages. The bamboo houses in the strictly Javanese
districts are always built on the ground; in the Sunda lands they are
raised on piles. Some of the well-to-do, however, have stone houses. The
principal article of food is rice; a considerable quantity of fish is
eaten, but little meat. Family life is usually well ordered. The upper
class practise polygamy, but among the common people a man has generally
only one wife. The Javanese are nominally Mahommedans, as in former
times they were Buddhists and Brahmins; but in reality, not only such
exceptional groups as the Kalangs of Surakarta and Jokjakarta and the
Baduwis or nomad tribes of Bantam, but the great mass of the people must
be considered as believers rather in the primitive animism of their
ancestors, for their belief in Islam is overlaid with superstition. As
we ascend in the social scale, however, we find the name of Mahommedan
more and more applicable; and consequently in spite of the paganism of
the populace the influence of the Mahommedan "priests" (this is their
official title in Dutch) is widespread and real. Great prestige attaches
to the pilgrimage to Mecca, which was made by 5068 persons from Java in
1900. In every considerable town there is a mosque. Christian missionary
work is not very widely spread.
_Languages._--In spite of Sundanese, Madurese and the intrusive Malay,
Javanese has a right to the name. It is a rich and cultivated language
which has passed through many stages of development and, under
peculiar influences, has become a linguistic complex of an almost
unique kind. Though it is customary and convenient to distinguish New
Javanese from Kavi or Old Javanese, just as it was customary to
distinguish English from Anglo-Saxon, there is no break of historical
continuity. Kavi (Basa Kavi, i.e. the language of poetry) may be
defined as the form spoken and written before the founding of
Majapahit; and middle Javanese, still represented by the dialect of
Banyumas, north Cheribon, north Krawang and north Bantam, as the form
the language assumed under the Majapahit court influence; while New
Javanese is the language as it has developed since the fall of that
kingdom. Kavi continued to be a literary language long after it had
become archaic. It contains more Sanskrit than any other language of
the archipelago. New Javanese breaks up into two great varieties, so
different that sometimes they are regarded as two distinct languages.
The nobility use one form, Kråmå; the common people another, Ngoko,
the "thouing" language (cf. Fr. _tutoyant_, Ger. _dutzend_); but each
class understands the language of the other class. The aristocrat
speaks to the commonalty in the language of the commoner; the
commoner speaks to the aristocracy in the language of the aristocrat;
and, according to clearly recognized etiquette, every Javanese plays
the part of aristocrat or commoner towards those whom he addresses. To
speak Ngoko to a superior is to insult him; to speak Kråmå to an equal
or inferior is a mark of respect. In this way Dipå Negårå showed his
contempt for the Dutch General de Kock. The ordinary Javanese thinks
in Ngoko; the children use it to each other, and so on. Between the
two forms there is a kind of compromise, the Madya, or middle form of
speech, employed by those who stand to each other on equal or friendly
footing or by those who feel little constraint of etiquette. For every
idea expressed in the language Kråmå has one vocable, the Ngoko
another, the two words being sometimes completely different and
sometimes differing only in the termination, the beginning or the
middle. Thus every Javanese uses, as it were, two or even three
languages delicately differentiated from each other. How this state of
affairs came about is matter of speculation. Almost certainly the
existence side by side of two peoples, speaking each its own tongue,
and occupying towards each other the position intellectually and
politically of superior and inferior, had much to do with it. But
Professor Kern thinks that some influence must also be assigned to
_pamela_ or _pantang_, word-taboo--certain words being in certain
circumstances regarded as of evil omen--a superstition still
lingering, e.g. even among the Shetland fishermen (see G. A. F. Hazeu,
_De taal pantangs_). It has sometimes been asserted that Kråmå
contains more Sanskrit words than Ngoko does; but the total number in
Kråmå does not exceed 20; and sometimes there is a Sanskrit word in
Ngoko which is not in Kråmå. There is a village Kråmå which is not
recognized by the educated classes: Kråmå inggil, with a vocabulary of
about 300 words, is used in addressing the deity or persons of exalted
rank. The Basa Kedaton or court language is a dialect used by all
living at court except royalties, who use Ngoko. Among themselves the
women of the court employ Kråmå or Madya, but they address the men in
Basa Kedaton.[13]
_Literature._--Though a considerable body of Kavi literature is still
extant, nothing like a history of it is possible. The date and
authorship of most of the works are totally unknown. The first place
may be assigned to the _Brata Yuda_ (Sansk., _Bharata Yudha_, the
conflict of the Bharatas), an epic poem dealing with the struggle
between the Pandåwås and the Koråwas for the throne of Ngastina
celebrated in parwas 5-10 of the _Mahabharata_. To the conception,
however, of the modern Javanese it is a purely native poem; its kings
and heroes find their place in the native history and serve as
ancestors to their noble families. (Cohen Stuart published the modern
Javanese version with a Dutch translation and notes, _Bråtå-Joedå_,
&c., Samarang, 1877. The Kavi text was lithographed at the Hague by S.
Lankhout.) Of greater antiquity probably is the _Ardjunå Wiwåhå_ (or
marriage festival of Ardjuna), which Professor Kern thinks may be
assigned to the first half of the 11th century of the Christian era.
The name indicates its _Mahabharata_ origin. (Friederich published the
Kavi text from a Bali MS., and _Wiwåhå Djarwa en Bråtå Joedo Kawi_,
lithographed facsimiles of two palm-leaf MSS., Batavia, 1878. Djarwa
is the name of the poetic diction of modern Javanese.) The oldest poem
of which any trace is preserved is probably the mythological _Kåndå_
(i.e. tradition); the contents are to some extent known from the
modern Javanese version. In the literature of modern Javanese there
exists a great variety of so-called _babads_ or chronicles. It is
sufficient to mention the "history" of Baron Sakender, which appears
to give an account--often hardly recognizable--of the settlement of
Europeans in Java (Cohen Stuart published text and translation,
Batavia, 1851; J. Veth gives an analysis of the contents), and the
_Babad Tanah Djawi_ (the Hague, 1874, 1877), giving the history of the
island to 1647 of the Javanese era. Even more numerous are the
_wayangs_ or puppet-plays which usually take their subjects from the
Hindu legends or from those relating to the kingdoms of Majapahit and
Pajajaram (see e.g. H. C. Humme, _Abiåså, een Javaansche toneelstuk_,
the Hague, 1878). In these plays grotesque figures of gilded leather
are moved by the performer, who recites the appropriate speeches and,
as occasion demands, plays the part of chorus.
Several Javanese specimens are also known of the beast fable, which
plays so important a part in Sanskrit literature (W. Palmer van den
Broek, _Javaansche Vertellingen, bevattende de lotgevallen van een
kantjil, een reebok_, &c., the Hague, 1878). To the Hindu-Javanese
literature there naturally succeeded a Mahommedan-Javanese literature
consisting largely of translations or imitations of Arabic originals;
it comprises religious romances, moral exhortations and mystical
treatises in great variety.[14]
_Arts._--In mechanic arts the Javanese are in advance of the other
peoples of the archipelago. Of thirty different crafts practised among
them, the most important are those of the blacksmith or cutler, the
carpenter, the kris-sheath maker, the coppersmith, the goldsmith and
the potter. Their skill in the working of the metals is the more
noteworthy as they have to import the raw materials. The most esteemed
product of the blacksmith's skill is the kris; every man and boy above
the age of fourteen wears one at least as part of his ordinary dress,
and men of rank two and sometimes four. In the finishing and adornment
of the finer weapons no expense is spared; and ancient krises of good
workmanship sometimes fetch enormous prices. The Javanese gold and
silver work possesses considerable beauty, but there is nothing equal
to the filigree of Sumatra; the brass musical instruments are of
exceptional excellence. Both bricks and tiles are largely made, as
well as a coarse unglazed pottery similar to that of Hindustan; but
all the finer wares are imported from China. Cotton spinning, weaving
and dyeing are carried on for the most part as purely domestic
operations by the women. The usual mode of giving variety of colour is
by weaving in stripes with a succession of different coloured yarns,
but another mode is to cover with melted wax or damar the part of the
cloth not intended to receive the dye. This process is naturally a
slow one, and has to be repeated according to the number of colours
required. As a consequence the _battiks_, as the cloths thus treated
are called, are in request by the wealthier classes. For the most part
quiet colours are preferred. To the Javanese of the present day the
ancient buildings of the Hindu periods are the work of supernatural
power. Except when employed by his European master he seldom builds
anything more substantial than a bamboo or timber framework; but in
the details of such erections he exhibits both skill and taste. When
Europeans first came to the island they found native vessels of large
size well entitled to the name of ships; and, though ship-building
proper is now carried on only under the direction of Europeans,
boat-building is a very extensive native industry along the whole of
the north coast--the boats sometimes reaching a burden of 50 tons. The
only one of the higher arts which the Javanese have carried to any
degree of perfection is music; and in regard to the value of their
efforts in this direction Europeans differ greatly. The orchestra
(_gamelan_) consists of wind, string and percussion instruments, the
latter being in preponderancy to the other two. (Details of the
instruments will be found in Raffles' _Java_, and a description of a
performance in the _Tour du monde_, 1880.)
_Chief Towns and Places of Note._--The capital of Java and of the
Dutch East India possessions is Batavia (q.v.), pop. 115,567. At
Meester Cornelis (pop. 33,119), between 6 and 7 m. from Batavia on the
railway to Buitenzorg, the battle was fought in 1811 which placed Java
in the hands of the British. In the vicinity lies Depok, originally a
Christian settlement of freed slaves, but now with about 3000
Mahommedan inhabitants and only 500 Christians. The other chief towns,
from west to east through the island, are as follows: Serang (pop.
5600) bears the same relation to Bantam, about 6 m. distant, which New
Batavia bears to Old Batavia, its slight elevation of 100 ft. above
the sea making it fitter for European occupation. Anjer (Angerlor,
Anger) lies 96 m. from Batavia by rail on the coast at the narrowest
part of the Sunda Strait; formerly European vessels were wont to call
there for fresh provisions and water. Pandeglang (pop. 3644), 787 ft.
above sea-level, is known for its hot and cold sulphur springs. About
17 m. west of Batavia lies Tangerang (pop. 13,535), a busy place with
about 2800 or 3000 Chinese among its inhabitants. Buitenzorg (q.v.) is
the country-seat of the governor-general, and its botanic gardens are
famous. Krawang, formerly chief town of the residency of that
name--the least populous of all--has lost its importance since
Purwakerta (pop. 6862) was made the administrative centre. At Wanyasa
in the neighbourhood the first tea plantations were attempted on a
large scale.
The Preanger regencies--Bandung, Chanjur, Sukabumi, Sumedang, Garut
and Tasikmalaya--constitute the most important of all the residencies,
though owing to their lack of harbour on the south and the intractable
nature of much of their soil they have not shared in the prosperity
enjoyed by many other parts of the island. Bandung, the chief town
since 1864, lies 2300 ft. above sea-level, 109 m. south of Batavia by
rail; it is a well-built and flourishing place (pop. 28,965; Europeans
1522, Chinese 2650) with a handsome resident's house (1867), a large
mosque (1867), a school for the sons of native men of rank, the most
important quinine factory in the island, and a race-course where in
July a good opportunity is afforded of seeing both the life of
fashionable and official Java and the customs and costumes of the
common people. The district is famous for its waterfalls, one of the
most remarkable of which is where the Chi Tarum rushes through a
narrow gully to leap down from the Bandung plateau. In the
neighbourhood is the great military camp of Chimahi. Chanjur, formerly
the chief town, in spite of its loss of administrative position still
has a population of 13,599. From Sukabumi (pop. 12,112; 569
Europeans), a pleasant health resort among the hills at an altitude of
1965 ft., tourists are accustomed to visit Wijnkoopers Bay for the
sake of the picturesque shore scenery. Chichalengka became after 1870
one of the centres of the coffee industry. Sumedang has only 8013
inhabitants, having declined since the railway took away the highway
traffic: it is exceeded both by Garut (10,647) and by Tasikmalaya
(9196), but it is a beautiful place well known to sportsmen for its
proximity to the Rancha Ekek swamp, where great snipe-shooting matches
are held every year. For natural beauty few parts of Java can compare
with the plain of Tasikmalaya, itself remarkable, in a country of
trees, for its magnificent avenues. N.E. of the Preanger lies the
residency of Cheribon[15] (properly Chi Rebon, the shrimp river). The
chief town (pop. 24,564) is one of the most important places on the
north coast, though the unhealthiness of the site has caused Europeans
to settle at Tangkil, 2 m. distant. The church (1842), the regent's
residence, and the great prison are among the principal buildings;
there are also extensive salt warehouses. The native part of the town
is laid out more regularly than is usual, and the Chinese quarter
(pop. 3352) has the finest Chinese temple in Java. The palaces of the
old sultans of Cheribon are less extensive than those of Surakarta and
Jokjakarta. Though the harbour has to be kept open by constant
dredging the roadstead is good all the year round. A strange pleasure
palace of Sultan Supeh, often described by travellers, lies about 2 m.
off near Sunya Raja. Mundu, a village 4 m. south-east of Cheribon, is
remarkable as the only spot on the north coast of the island visited
by the ikan prut or belly-fish, a species about as large as a cod,
caught in thousands and salted by the local fishermen. Indramayu,
which lies on both banks of the Chi Manuk about 8 m. from the coast,
is mentioned under the name of Dermayo as a port for the rice of the
district and the coffee of the Preanger. The coffee trade is extinct
but the rice trade is more flourishing than ever, and the town has
13,400 inhabitants, of whom 2200 are Chinese. It might have a great
commercial future if money could be found for the works necessary to
overcome the disadvantage of its position--the roads being safe only
during the east monsoon and the river requiring to be deepened and
regulated. Tegal has long been one of the chief towns of Java:
commerce, native trade and industry, and fisheries are all well
represented and the sugar factories give abundant employment to the
inhabitants. The harbour has been the object of various improvements
since 1871. The whole district is densely populated (3100 to the sq.
m.) and the town proper with its 16,665 inhabitants is surrounded by
extensive kampongs (Balapulang, Lebaksiu, &c.). In Pekalongan (pop.
38,211) and Batang (21,286) the most important industry is the
production of battiks and stamped cloths; there are also iron-works
and sugar factories. The two towns are only some 5 m. apart. The
former has a large mosque, a Protestant church, an old fort and a
large number of European houses. The Chinese quarters consist of neat
stone or brick buildings. Pekalongan smoked ducks are well known.
Brebes (13,474) on the Pamali is an important trade centre. Banyumas
(5000) is the seat of a resident; it is exceeded by Purwokerto
(12,610), Purbalinggo (12,094) and Chilachap (12,000). This last
possesses the best harbour on the south coast, and but for malaria
would have been an important place. It was chosen as the seat of a
great military establishment but had to be abandoned, the fort being
blown up in 1893. Semarang (pop. 89,286, of whom 4800 are Europeans
and 12,372 Chinese) lies on the Kali Ngaran near the centre of the
north coast. Up to 1824 the old European town was surrounded by a wall
and ditch. It was almost the exact reproduction of a Dutch town
without the slightest accommodation to the exigencies of the climate,
the streets narrow and irregular. The modern town is well laid out.
Among the more noteworthy buildings of Semarang are the old Prince of
Orange fort, the resident's house, the Roman Catholic church, the
Protestant church, the mosque, the military hospital. A new impulse to
the growth of the town was given by the opening of the railway to
Surakarta and Jokjakarta in 1875. As a seaport the place is
unfortunately situated. The river has long been silted up; the
roadstead is insecure in the west monsoon. After many delays an
artificial canal, begun in 1858, became available as a substitute for
the river; but further works are necessary. A second great canal to
the east, begun in 1896, helps to prevent inundations and thus improve
the healthiness of the town. Demak, 13 m. N.E. of Semarang, though
situated in a wretched region of swamps and having only 5000
inhabitants, is famous in ancient Javanese history. The mosque,
erected by the first sultan of Demak, was rebuilt in 1845; only a
small part of the old structure has been preserved, but as a sanctuary
it attracts 6000 or 7000 pilgrims annually. To visit Demak seven times
has the same ceremonial value as the pilgrimage to Mecca. The tombs of
several of the sultans are still extant. Salatiga ("three stones,"
with allusion to three temples now destroyed) was in early times one
of the resting places of ambassadors proceeding to the court of
Mataram, and in the European history of Java its name is associated
with the peace of 1755 and the capitulation of 1811. It is the seat of
a cavalry and artillery camp. Its population, about 10,000, seems to
be declining. Ambarawa with its railway station is, on the other hand,
rapidly increasing. Its population of 14,745 includes 459 Europeans.
About a mile to the N. lies the fortress of Willem I. which Van den
Bosch meant to make the centre of the Javanese system of defensive
works; the Banyubiru military camp is in the neighbourhood. Kendal
(15,000) is a centre of the sugar industry. Kudus (31,000; 4300
Chinese) has grown to be one of the most important inland towns. Its
cloth and battik pedlars are known throughout the island and the
success of their enterprise is evident in the style of their houses. A
good trade is also carried on in cattle, kapok, copra, pottery and all
sorts of small wares. The mosque in the old town has interesting
remains of Majapahit architecture; and the tomb of Pangeran Kudus is a
noted Mahommedan sanctuary. A steam tramway leads northward towards,
but does not reach Japara, which in the 17th century was the chief
port of the kingdom of Mataram and retained its commercial importance
till the Dutch Company removed its establishment to Semarang. In 1818
Daendels transferred its resident to Pati. Ungaran, 1026 ft. above the
sea, was a place of importance as early as the 17th century, and in
modern times has become known as a sanatorium. Rembang, a well-built
coast town and the seat of a resident, has grown rapidly to have a
population of 29,538 with 210 Europeans. Very similar to each other
are Surakarta or Solo and Jokjakarta, the chief towns of the
quasi-independent states or Vorstenlanden. Surakarta (pop. 109,459;
Chinese 5159, Europeans 1913) contains the palace (Kraton, locally
called the Bata bumi) of the susuhunan (which the Dutch translated as
emperor), the dalem of Prince Mangku Negårå, the residences of the
Solo nobles, a small Dutch fort (Vastenburg), a great mosque, an old
Dutch settlement, and a Protestant church. Here the susuhunan lives in
Oriental pomp and state. To visitors there are few more interesting
entertainments than those afforded by the celebration of the 31st of
August (the birthday of the queen of the Netherlands) or of the New
Year and the Puasa festivals, with their wayungs, ballet-dancers, and
so on. Jokjakarta (35 m. S.) has been a great city since Mangku Bumi
settled there in 1755. The Kraton has a circuit of 3½ m., and is a
little town in itself with the palace proper, the residences of the
ladies of the court and kampongs for the hereditary smiths,
carpenters, sculptors, masons, payong-makers, musical instrument
makers, &c., &c., of his highness. The independent Prince Paku Alam
has a palace of his own. As in Surakarta there are an old Dutch town
and a fort. The Jogka market is one of the most important of all Java,
especially for jewelry. The total population is 72,235 with 1424
Europeans. To the south-east lies Pasar Gedeh, a former capital of
Mataram, with tombs of the ancient princes in the Kraton, a favourite
residence of wealthy Javanese traders. Surabaya (q.v.), on the strait
of Madura, is the largest commercial town in Java. Its population
increased from 118,000 in 1890 to 146,944 in 1900 (8906 Europeans). To
the north lies Grissee or Gresih (25,688 inhabitants) with a fairly
good harbour and of special interest in the early European history of
Java. Inland is the considerable town of Lamongan (12,485
inhabitants). Fifteen m. S. by rail lies Sidoarjo (10,207; 185
Europeans), the centre of one of the most densely populated districts
and important as a railway junction. In the neighbourhood is the
populous village of Mojosari. Pasuruan was until modern times one of
the chief commercial towns in Java, the staple being sugar. Since the
opening of the railway to Surabaya it has greatly declined, and its
warehouses and dwelling-houses are largely deserted. The population is
27,152 with 663 Europeans. Probolinggo (called by the natives Banger)
is a place of 13,240 inhabitants. The swampy tracts in the vicinity
are full of fishponds. The baths of Banyubiru (blue water) to the
south have Hindu remains much visited by devotees. Pasirian in the far
south of the residency is a considerable market town and the terminus
of a branch railway. Besuki, the easternmost of all the residencies,
contains several places of some importance; the chief town Bondowoso
(8289); Besuki, about the same size, but with no foreign trade;
Jember, a small but rapidly increasing place, and Banyuwangi (17,559).
This last was at one time the seat of the resident, now the eastern
terminus of the railway system, and is a seaport on the Bali Strait
with an important office of the telegraph company controlling
communication with Port Darwin and Singapore. It has a very mingled
population, besides Javanese and Madurese, Chinese and Arabs,
Balinese, Buginese and Europeans. The chief town of Kediri (10,489) is
the only residency town in the interior traversed by a navigable
river, and is exceeded by Tulungagung; and the residency of Madiun has
two considerable centres of population: Madiun (21,168) and Ponorogo
(16,765).
_Agriculture._--About 40% of the soil of Java is under cultivation.
Bantam and Besuki have each 16% of land under cultivation; Krawang,
21%; Preanger, 23%; Rembang, 30%; Japara, 62%; Surabaya, 65%; Kedu,
66%; Samarang, 67%. Proceeding along the south coast from its west
end, we find that in Bantam all the land cultivated on its south shore
amounts to at most but 5% of that regency; in Preanger and Banyumas,
as far as Chilachap, the land under cultivation amounts at a maximum
to 20%. East of Surakarta the percentages of land on the south coast
under cultivation decline from 30 to 20 and 10. East of the residency
of Probolinggo the percentage of land cultivated on the south coast
sinks to as low as 2. On the north coast, in Krawang and Rembang, with
their morasses and double chains of chalk, there are districts with
only 20% and 10% of the soil under cultivation. In the residencies, on
the other hand, of Batavia, Cheribon, Tegal, Samarang, Japara,
Surabaya and Pasuruan, there are districts having 80% to 90% of soil,
and even more, under cultivation.
The agricultural products of Java must be distinguished into those
raised by the natives for their own use and those raised for the
government and private proprietors. The land assigned to the natives
for their own culture and use amounts to about 9,625,000 acres. In
western Java the prevailing crop is rice, less prominently cultivated
in middle Java, while in eastern Java and Madura other articles of
food take the first rank. The Javanese tell strange legends concerning
the introduction of rice, and observe various ceremonies in connexion
with its planting, paying more regard to them than to the proper
cultivation of the cereal. The agricultural produce grown on the lands
of the government and private proprietors, comprising an area of about
3½ million acres, consists of sugar, cinchona, coffee, tobacco, tea,
indigo, &c. The Javanese possess buffaloes, ordinary cattle, horses,
dogs and cats. The buffalo was probably introduced by the Hindus. As
in agricultural products, so also in cattle-rearing, western Java is
distinguished from middle and eastern Java. The average distribution
of buffaloes is 106 per 1000 inhabitants, but it varies considerably
in different districts, being greatest in western Java. The fact that
rice is the prevailing culture in the west, while in eastern Java
other plants constitute the chief produce, explains the larger number
of buffaloes found in western Java, these animals being more in
requisition in the culture of rice. The ordinary cattle are of mixed
race; the Indian zebu having been crossed with the banting and with
European cattle of miscellaneous origin. The horses, though small, are
of excellent character, and their masters, according to their own
ideas, are extremely particular in regard to purity of race. Riding
comes naturally to the Javanese; horse-races and tournays have been in
vogue among them from early times.
Coffee is an alien in Java. Specimens brought in 1696 from Cannanore
on the Malabar coast perished in an earthquake and floods in 1699; the
effective introduction of the precious shrub was due to Hendrik
Zwaardekron (see N. P. van den Berg, "Voortbrenging en verbruck van
koffie," _Tijdschrift v. Nijverh. en Landb._ 1879; and the article
"Koffie" in _Encyc. Ned. Ind._ Wiji kawih is mentioned in a Kavi
inscription of A.D. 856, and the bean-broth in David Tappen's list of
Javanese beverages, 1667-1682, may have been coffee). The first
consignment of coffee (894 lb.) to the Netherlands was made in
1711-1712, but it was not till after 1721 that the yearly exports
reached any considerable amount. The aggregate quantity sold in the
home market from 1711 to 1791 was 2,036,437 piculs, or on an average
about 143 tons per annum; and this probably represented nearly the
whole production of the island. By the beginning of the 19th century
the annual production was about 7143 tons and after the introduction
of the Van den Bosch system of forced culture a further augmentation
was effected. The forced culture system was, in 1909, however, of
little importance. Official reports show that from 1840 to 1873 the
amount ranged from 5226 tons to 7354. During the ten years 1869 to
1878 the average crop of the plantations under state control was 5226
tons, that of the private planters about 810. The government has shown
a strange reluctance to surrender the old-fashioned monopoly, but the
spirit of private enterprise has slowly gained the day. Though the
appearance of the coffee blight (_Hemileia vastatrix_) almost ruined
the industry the planters did not give in. An immune variety was
introduced from Liberia, and scientific methods of treatment have been
adopted in dealing with the plantations. In 1887, a record year, the
value of the coffee crop reached £3,083,333, and at its average it was
about £1,750,000 between 1886 and 1895. The value was only £1,166,666
in 1896. The greatest difficulties are the uncertainties both of the
crop and of its marketable value. The former is well shown in the
figures for 1903 to 1905; government 17,900, 3949 and 3511 tons, and
private planters 22,395, 15,311 and 21,395 tons. Liberia coffee is
still produced in much smaller quantity than Java coffee; the latter
on an average of these three years 21,360 tons; the former 7409.
The cultivation of sugar has been long carried on in Java, and since
the decline of the coffee plantations it has developed into the
leading industry of the island. There are experimental stations at
Pasuruan, Pekalongan and elsewhere, where attempts are made to
overcome the many diseases to which the cane is subject. Many of the
mills are equipped with high-class machinery and produce sugar of
excellent colour and grain. In 1853-1857 the average crop was 98,094
tons; in 1869-1873, 170,831, and in 1875-1880, 204,678. By 1899-1900
the average had risen to 787,673 tons; and the crops for 1904 and 1905
were respectively 1,064,935 and 1,028,357 tons. Prices fluctuate, but
the value of the harvest of 1905 was estimated at about £15,000,000.
The cultivation of indigo shows a strange vitality. Under the culture
system the natives found this the most oppressive of all the state
crops. The modern chemist at one time seemed to have killed the
industry by his synthetic substitute, but in every year between 1899
and 1904 Java exported between one million and one and a half million
pounds of the natural product. Japan and Russia were the largest
buyers. As blue is a favourite colour with the Javanese proper a large
quantity is used at home.
Tea was first introduced to Java by the Japanese scholar von Siebold
in 1826. The culture was undertaken by the state in 1829 with plants
from China, but in 1842 they handed it over to contractors, whose
attempts to increase their profits by delivering an inferior article
ultimately led to the abandonment of the contract system in 1860. In
the meantime the basis of a better state of the industry had been laid
by the Dutch tea-taster J. J. L. L. Jacobsen of the Nederlandsch
Handel Maatschappij, who introduced not only fresh stock, but expert
growers from China in 1852-1853. The tea-planters (often taking
possession of the abandoned coffee-plantations) have greatly improved
the quality of their products. Assam tea was introduced in 1878, and
this has rapidly extended its area. The exports increased from
12,110,724 lb. in 1898 to 25,772,564 in 1905. More than half the total
goes to the Netherlands; the United Kingdom ranks next, and, far
behind both, Russia.
In 1854 the government introduced the culture of cinchona with free
labour, and it had considerable success under F. Junghuhn and his
successors, though the varieties grown were of inferior quality. Later
seed of the best cinchona was obtained, and under skilful management
Java has become the chief producer of quinine in the world. Cacao is
produced in the Preanger regencies, Pekalongan, Semarang, Pasuruan,
Besuki, Kediri and Surakarta. In 1903, a record year, 1,101,835 piculs
(about 6540 tons) were produced. _Broussonetia papyrifera_ is grown
for the sake of its bark, so well known in Japan (Jap. _kodsu_) as a
paper material. The ground-nut (the widely spread _Arachis hypogaea_
from South America), locally known as kachang china or tanah, is
somewhat extensively grown. The oil is exported to Holland, where it
is sold as Delft salad oil. Tapioca has long been cultivated,
especially in the Preanger. The industry is mainly in the hands of the
Chinese, and the principal foreign purchasers are English biscuit
manufacturers. The kapok is a tree from tropical America which,
growing freely in any soil, is extensively used throughout Java along
the highways as a support for telegraph and telephone wires, and
planted as a prop in pepper and cubeb plantations. The silky fibre
contained in its long capsuloid fruits is known as cotton wool; and
among other uses it serves almost as well as cork for filling
life-belts; and the oil from its seed is employed to adulterate
ground-nut oil. The quantity of wool exported nearly trebled between
1890 and 1896, in the latter year the total sent to Holland,
Australia, Singapore, &c., amounting to 38,586 bales. The rapid
exhaustion of the natural supply of india-rubber and gutta-percha
began to attract the attention of government in the latter decades of
the 19th century. Extensive experiments have been made in the
cultivation of _Ficus elastica_ (the karet of the natives), _Castilloa
elastica_, and _Hevea brasiliensis_. The planting of gutta-percha
trees was begun about 1886, and a regular system introduced in the
Preanger in 1901. The _Palaquium oblongifolium_ plantations at Blavan,
Kemutuk and Sewang in Banyumas have also been brought under official
control. Java tobacco, amounting to about 35,200,000 lb. a year, is
cultivated almost exclusively in eastern Java. Among other products
which are of some importance as articles of export may be mentioned
nutmegs, mace, pepper, hides, arrack and copra.
_Particular Lands._--At different times down to 1830 the government
disposed of its lands in full property to individuals who, acquiring
complete control of the inhabitants as well as of the soil, continued
down to the 19th century to act as if they were independent of all
superior authority. In this way more than 1½ millions of the people
were subject not to the state but to "stock companies, absentee
landlords and Chinese." According to the _Regeerings Almanak_ (1906)
these "particular lands," as they are called, were distributed as
follows: Bantam 21, Batavia 36, Meester Cornelis 163, Tangerang 80,
Buitenzorg 61, Semarang 32, Surabaya 46, Krawang and Demak 3 each,
Cheribon 2, and Pekalongan, Kendal and Pasuruan 1 each. In Meester
Cornelis no fewer than 297,912 persons were returned in 1905 as living
on these lands. Of the 168 estates there are not 20 that grow anything
but grass, rice and coconuts. In Buitenzorg (thanks probably to the
Botanic Gardens) matters are better: tea, coffee, cinchona and
india-rubber appearing amongst the objects of cultivation; and, in
general, it must be noted that these estates have often natural
difficulties to contend against far beyond their financial strength.
_Minerals._--Of all the great islands of the archipelago Java is the
poorest in metallic ores. Gold and silver are practically nonexistent.
Manganese is found in Jokjakarta and various other parts. A concession
for working the magnetic iron sands in the neighbourhood of Chilachap
was granted in 1904. Coal occurs in thin strata and small pockets in
many parts (Bantam, Rembang, Jokjakarta, &c.); and in 1905 a
concession was granted to a company to work the coal-beds at Bajah
close to the harbour of Wijnkoopers Bay, a port of call of the
Koninklijk Paketvaart Maatschappij. The discovery by De Groot in 1863
of petroleum added a most important industry to the list of the
resources of Java. The great Dort Petroleum Company, now centred at
Amsterdam, was founded in 1887. The production of this company alone
rose from 79,179 _kisten_ or cases (each 8.14 gall.) in 1891 to
1,642,780 in 1890, and to 1,967,124 in 1905. In 1904 there were no
fewer than 36 concessions for petroleum. At the same time there is a
larger importation of oil from Sumatra as well as from America and
Russia. Sulphur is regularly worked in the Gunong Slamet, G. Sindoro,
G. Sumbing, and in the crater of the Tangkuban Prahu as well as in
other places in the Preanger regencies and in Pasuruan. Brine-wells
exist in various parts. The bledegs (salt-mud wells) of Grobogan in
the Solo Valley, Semarang, are best known. They rise from Miocene
strata and yield iodine and bromine products as well as common salt.
The natives of the district are allowed to extract the salt for their
own use, but elsewhere (except in Jokjakarta) the manufacture of salt
is a government monopoly and confined to the districts of Sumenep,
Panekasan and Sampang in Madura, where from 3000 to 4000 people are
hereditarily engaged in extracting salt from sea water, delivering it
to the government at the rate of 10 fl. (nearly 17s.) per koyang (3700
lb.). The distribution of this salt (rough-grained, greyish and highly
hygroscopic) is extremely unsatisfactory. The waste was so great that
in 1901 the government paid a prize of about £835 (10,000 fl.) to Karl
Boltz von Bolzberg for an improved method of packing. Between 1888 and
1892 the annual amount delivered was 71,405 tons; in the next five
years it rose to 89,932; and between 1898 and 1902 sank again to
88,856. The evil effects of this monopoly have been investigated by J.
E. de Meyer, "Zout als middel van belasting," _De Ind. Gids._ (1905).
The scarcity of salt has led to a great importation of salted fish
from Siam (upwards of 6600 tons in 1902).
_Communications._--Roads and railways for the most part follow the
fertile plains and table-lands along the coast and between the
volcanic areas. The principal railways are the Semarang-Jokjakarta and
Batavia-Buitenzorg lines of the Netherlands-Indian railway company,
and the Surabaya-Pasuruan, Bangil-Mulang, Sidoarjo-Paron,
Kertosono-Tulung Agung, Buitenzorg-Chianjur, Surakarta-Madiun,
Pasuruan-Probolinggo, Jokjakarta-Chilachap and other lines of the
government. The earliest lines, between Batavia and Buitenzorg and
between Semarang and the capitals of the sultanates, were built about
1870 by a private company with a state guarantee. Since 1875, when Dr
van Goltstein, then a cabinet minister and afterwards Dutch minister
in London, had an act passed for the construction of state railways in
Java, their progress has become much more rapid. In addition, several
private companies have built either light railways or tramways, such
as that between Semarang and Joana, and the total length of all lines
was 2460 in 1905. There are some 3500 miles of telegraph line, and
cables connect Java with Madura, Bali and Sumatra, and Port Darwin in
Australia. Material welfare was promoted by the establishment of lines
of steamships between Java and the other islands, all belonging to a
Royal Packet Company, established in 1888 under a special statute, and
virtually possessing a monopoly on account of the government mail
contracts.
_Administration._--Each village (dessa) forms an independent
community, a group of dessas forms a district, a group of districts a
department and a group of departments a residency, of which there are
seventeen. At the head of each residency is a resident, with an
assistant resident and a controller, all Dutch officials. The
officials of the departments and districts are natives appointed by
the government; those of the dessa are also natives, elected by the
inhabitants and approved by the resident. In the two sultanates of
Surakarta and Jokjakarta the native sultans govern under the
supervision of the residents. (For the colonial administration of
Netherlands India see MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.)
_History._--The origin of the name Java is very doubtful. It is not
improbable that it was first applied either to Sumatra or to what was
known of the Indian Archipelago--the insular character of the several
parts not being at once recognized. Jawa Dwipa, or "land of millet," may
have been the original form and have given rise both to the Jaba diu of
Ptolemy and to the Je-pho-thi of Fahien, the Chinese pilgrim of the
4th-5th century. The oldest form of the name in Arabic is apparently
Zábej. The first epigraphic occurrence of Jawa is in an inscription of
1343. In Marco Polo the name is the common appellation of all the Sunda
islands. The Jawa of Ibn Batuta is Sumatra; Java is his Mul Jáwa (i.e.
possibly "original Java"). Jåwå is the modern Javanese name (in the
court speech Jawi), sometimes with Nusa, "island," or Tanah, "country,"
prefixed.
It is impossible to extract a rational historical narrative from the
earlier _babads_ or native chronicles, and even the later are destitute
of any satisfactory chronology. The first great era in the history is
the ascendancy of the Hindus, and that breaks up into three periods--a
period of Buddhism, a period of aggressive Sivaism, and a period of
apparent compromise. Of the various Hindu states that were established
in the island, that of Majapahit was the most widely dominant down to
the end of the 15th century; its tributaries were many, and it even
extended its sway into other parts of the archipelago. The second era of
Javanese history is the invasion of Islam in the beginning of the 15th
century; and the third is the establishment of European and more
particularly of Dutch influence and authority in the island. About 1520
the Portuguese entered into commercial relationship with the natives,
but at the close of the same century the Dutch began to establish
themselves. At the time when the Dutch East India company began to fix
its trading factories on the coast towns, the chief native state was
Mataram, which had in the 16th century succeeded to the overlordship
possessed by the house of Demak--one of the states that rose after the
fall of Majapahit. The emperors of Java, as the princes of Mataram are
called in the early accounts, had their capital at Kartasura, now an
almost deserted place, 6 m. west of Surakarta. At first and for long the
company had only forts and little fragments of territory at Jakatra
(Batavia), &c.; but in 1705 it obtained definite possession of the
Preanger by treaty with Mataram; and in 1745 its authority was extended
over the whole north-east coast, from Cheribon to Banyuwangi. In 1755
the kingdom of Mataram was divided into the two states of Surakarta and
Jokjakarta, which still retain a shadow of independence. The kingdom of
Bantam was finally subjugated in 1808. By the English occupation of the
island (1811-1818) the European ascendancy was rather strengthened than
weakened; the great Java war (1825-1830), in which Dipå Negårå, the last
Javanese prince, a clever, bold and unscrupulous leader, struggled to
maintain his claim to the whole island, resulted in the complete success
of the Dutch. To subdue him and his following, however, taxed all the
resources of the Dutch Indian army for a period of five years, and cost
it the loss of 15,000 officers and soldiers, besides millions of
guilders. Nor did his great influence die with him when his adventurous
career came to a close in 1855 at Macassar. Many Javanese, who dream of
a restoration of their ancient empire, do not believe even yet that Dipå
Negårå is dead. They are readily persuaded by fanatical hadjis that
their hero will suddenly appear to drive away the Dutch and claim his
rightful heritage. Several times there have been political troubles in
the native states of central Java, in which Dipå Negårå's name was used,
notably in 1883, when many rebellious chieftains were exiled. Similar
attempts at revolt had been made before, mainly in 1865 and 1870, but
none so serious perhaps as that in 1849, in which a son and a brother of
Dipå Negårå were implicated, aiming to deliver and reinstate him. All
such attempts proved as futile there as others in different parts of
Java, especially in Bantam, where the trouble of 1850 and 1888 had a
religious origin, and in the end they directly contributed to the
consolidation of Dutch sway. Being the principal Dutch colony in the
Malay Archipelago, Java was the first to benefit from the material
change which resulted from the introduction of the Grondwet or
Fundamental Law of 1848 in Holland. The main changes were of an
economical character, but the political developments were also
important. Since 1850 Dutch authority has steadily advanced, principally
at the expense of the semi-independent sultanates in central Java, which
had been allowed to remain after the capture and exile of Dipå Negårå.
The power of the sultans of Jokjakarta and Surakarta has diminished; in
1863 Dutch authority was strengthened in the neighbouring island of
Madura, and Bantam has lost every vestige of independence. The
strengthening of the Dutch power has largely resulted from a more
statesmanlike and more generous treatment of the natives, who have been
educated to regard the _orang blanda_, or white man, as their protector
against the native rulers. Thus, in 1866, passports for natives
travelling in Java were abolished by the then governor-general, Dr Sloet
van de Beele, who also introduced many reforms, reducing the _corvée_ in
the government plantations to a minimum, and doing away with the
monopoly of fisheries. Six years later a primary education system for
the natives, and a penal code, whose liberal provisions seemed framed
for Europeans, were introduced.
_Antiquities._--Ordinary traces of early human occupation are few in
Java. The native bamboo buildings speedily perish. Stone weapons are
occasionally found. But remains of the temples and monastic buildings
of the Hindu period are numerous and splendid, and are remarkable as
representing architecture which reached a high standard without the
use of mortar, supporting columns or arches. Chandis (i.e. temples,
though the word originally meant a depository for the ashes of a
saint) are not found in western Java. They exist in two great zones:
one in middle Java, one in eastern Java, each with its own
distinguishing characteristics, both architectural and religious. The
former begins in the Dyeng plateau, in the east of Banyumas, and
extends into the east of Bagelen, Kedu and the neighbouring districts
of Semarang, northern Jokjakarta, and the western corner of Surakarta.
The latter lies mainly in Surabaya, Kediri and Pasuruan. A
considerable number of ruins also exist in Probolinggo. Farther east
they grow scarce. There is none in Madura. The remains of Macham Putih
in Banyuwangi are possibly of non-Hindu origin. In the regency of
Kendal (Semarang), to the north of Kedu, the place-names show that
temples once existed.[16] Some of them are Sivaite, some Buddhist,
some astoundingly composite. None of the Buddhist buildings shows
traces of the older Himaryana form of the creed. The greatest of all
is a perfect sculptural exposition of the Mahayana doctrine. As to the
period during which these temples were erected, authorities are not
agreed. Ijzerman assigns the central Java groups to between the 8th
and the 10th centuries. The seven-storeyed vihara (monastery)
mentioned in the famous Menang-Kabu inscription (Sumatra) as founded
by Maharaja Dhiraya Adityadharma in A.D. 656 is by some supposed to be
Boro-Budur. A copper plate of 840 refers to Dyeng (Dehyang) as one of
the sacred mountains of Java. One thing seems certain, that the
temples of the eastern zone are of much more recent origin than most,
at least, of the central zone. They are generally distinguished by the
characteristics of a decadent and more voluptuous age, and show that
the art of the time had become less Indian and more Javanese, with
traces of influences derived from the more eastern East. At the same
time it must be noted that even in Boro Budur there are non-Indian
elements in the decoration, indicating that the Hindu architect
employed native artists and to some extent left them a free hand.
In his standard work on _Indian and Eastern Architecture_ (London,
1876), James Fergusson asserted that the Javanese temples are in the
Chalukyan style. But J. W. Ijzerman in an elaborate paper in the
_Album-Kern_ contends that the learned historian of architecture was
misled by basing his opinion mainly on inaccurate drawings reproduced
by Raffles. The Javanese temples, with the solitary exception of
Chandi Bima in the Dyeng, are Dravidian and not Chalukyan. The very
temples quoted by Fergusson, when more carefully examined, disprove
his statement: a fact not without its bearing on the history of the
Hindu immigration.
The wonderful scenery of the Dyeng plateau was already, in all
probability, an object of superstitious awe to the aboriginal
inhabitants of Java; and thus it would catch the attention of the
earliest Hindu settlers. The old crater floor is full of traces of
human occupation; though, in spite of the tradition of the existence
of a considerable town, no sepulchral relics of the inhabitants have
been discovered. There still remain five groups of temples--some well
preserved, some mere heaps of stone--to prove the devotion their
builders bore to Siva, his consort Durga, and Ganesha their son. The
Arjuno group, in the middle of the plateau, consists of Chandi Arjuno
(with its chapel or priests' residence, Ch. Semar), Ch. Srikahdi, Ch.
Puntadeva and Ch. Sembadro, each a simple square chamber with a
portico reached by a flight of steps. The second group, Ch. Daravati
and Ch. Parakesit, lies to the north-east. The third, now a ruined
mound, lies to the east. The fourth, to the north-west, is a group of
seven small temples of which Ch. Sanchaki is the most important, with
a square ground plan and an octagon roof with a second circular
storey. Of the fifth group, in the south, only one temple remains--the
Chandi Bima--a small, beautiful and exceptionally interesting
building, in "the form of a pyramid, the ribs of which stand out much
more prominently than the horizontal lines of the niche-shaped
ornaments which rest each on its lotus cushion." How this happens to
be the one Chalukyan temple amid hundreds is a problem to be solved.
The plateau lies 6500 ft. above the sea, and roads and stairways,
locally known as Buddha roads, lead up from the lowlands of Bagelen
and Pekalongan. The stairway between Lake Menjur and Lake Chebong
alone consisted of 4700 steps. The width of the roadway, however, is
only some three or four feet. A remarkable subterranean tunnel still
exists, which served to drain the plateau.
Of all the Hindu temples of Java the largest and most magnificent is
Boro-Budur, which ranks among the architectural marvels of the world.
It lies in the residency of Kedu, a little to the west of the Progo, a
considerable stream flowing south to the Indian Ocean. The place is
best reached by taking the steam-tram from Magelang or Jokjakarta to
the village of Muntilam Passar, where a conveyance may be hired.
Strictly speaking, Boro-Budur is not a temple but a hill, rising about
150 ft. above the plain, encased with imposing terraces constructed of
hewn lava-blocks and crowded with sculptures. The lowest terrace now
above ground forms a square, each side 497 ft. long. About 50 ft.
higher there is another terrace of similar shape. Then follow four
other terraces of more irregular contour. The structure is crowned by
a dome or cupola 52 ft. in diameter surrounded by sixteen smaller
bell-shaped cupolas. Regarded as a whole, the main design, to quote Mr
Sewell, may be described as "an archaic Indian temple, considerably
flattened and consisting of a series of terraces, surmounted by a
quasi-stupa capped by a dagoba." It was discovered by the engineer J.
W. Ijzerman in 1885 that the basement of the structure had been
earthed up before the building was finished, and that the lowest
retaining wall was completely concealed by the embankment. The
architects had evidently found that their temple was threatened with a
destructive subsidence; and, while the sculptors were still busy with
the decoration of the lower façades, they had to abandon their work.
But the unfinished bas-reliefs were carefully protected by clay and
blocks of stone and left in position; and since 1896 they are
gradually but systematically being exhumed and photographed by the
Dutch archaeologists, who, however, have to proceed with caution,
filling up one portion of the embankment before they go on to deal
with another. The subjects treated in this lowest enceinte are of the
most varied description, forming a picture-gallery of landscapes,
scenes of outdoor and domestic life, mingled with mythological and
religious designs. Among the genre class appear men shooting birds
with blow-pipe or bow and arrow, fishermen with rod or net, a man
playing a bagpipe, and so on. It would seem as if the architect had
intended gradually to wean the devotees from the things of this world.
When once they began to ascend from stage to stage of the temple-hill
they were introduced to the realities of religion; and by the time
they reached the dagoba they had passed through a process of
instruction and were ready, with enlightened eyes, to enter and behold
the image of Buddha, symbolically left imperfect, as beyond the power
of human art to realize or portray. From basement to summit the whole
hill is a great picture bible of the Mahayana creed.
If the statues and bas-reliefs of Boro-Budur were placed side by side
they would extend for 3 m. The eye of the spectator, looking up from
the present ground-level, is caught, says Mr Sewell, by the rows of
life-size Buddhas that adorn the retaining walls of the several
terraces and the cage-like shrines on the circular platforms. All the
great figures on the east side represent Akshobhya, the Dhyani Buddha
of the East. His right hand is in the Chumisparsa mudra (pose)
touching the earth in front of the right knee--"I swear by the earth."
All the statues on the south side are Ratnasam Chavu in the varada
mudra--the right hand displayed upwards--"I give you all." On the west
side the statues represent Amitabha in the dhyana or padinasama mudra,
the right hand resting palm upwards on the left, both being on the
lap--the attitude of meditation. Those on the north represent
Amogasiddhi in the abhaya mudra, the right hand being raised and
displayed, palm outwards--"Fear not, all is well."
Other remarkable groups of Hindu temples exist near the village of
Prambanan[17] (less correctly Brambanan) in Surakarta, but not far
from the borders of Jokjakarta, with a station on the railway between
the two chief towns. The village has been named after the temples,
Prambanan signifying the place of teachers. The whole ecclesiastical
settlement was surrounded by three lines of wall, of which only the
inmost is now visible above ground. Between the second and third walls
are 157 small temples, and in the central enclosure are the ruins of
six larger temples in a double row with two smaller ones at the side.
The middle temple of the western row is the main building, full of
statues of purely Sivaite character--Siva as Guru or teacher, Siva as
Kala or Time the Destroyer, Durga, Ganesha, and so on. But, just as
many churches in Christendom are called not after the Christ but after
the Virgin, so this is known as Lara (i.e. Virgin) Janggrang from the
popular name of Durga. In the southern temple of the row is a very
fine figure of a four-armed Brahma; in the northern there was a Vishnu
with attendant figures. Of the other row the middle temple is again
the largest, with Siva, his nandi or bull, and other symbolic
sculptures. To the north lies the extraordinary cluster of temples
which, though it does not deserve its popular name of Chandi Sewu, the
thousand shrines, consists of at least 240 small buildings gathered
round a great central temple, richly adorned, though roofless and
partially ruined since the earthquake of 1867. Among the more
noteworthy figures are those of the huge and ungainly guardians of the
temple kneeling at the four main gateways of each of the principal
buildings. Colonel Yule pointed out that there are distinct traces of
a fine coat of stucco on the exterior and the interior of the
buildings, and he compared in this respect "the cave walls of Ellora,
the great idols at Bamian, and the Doric order at Selinus." Other
temples in the same neighbourhood as Chandi Sewu are Ch. Lumbung, Ch.
Kali Bening (Baneng), with a monstrous Kala head as the centre of the
design on the southern side, Ch. Kalong and Ch. Plaosan. Tradition
assigns these temples to 1266-1296.
Of the temples of the eastern zone the best known is Chandi Jago (or
Tumpang), elaborately described in the Archaeological Commission's
monograph. According to the _Pararaton_, a native chronicle (published
in the _Verhand. v. h. Bat. Gen. v. K. en W._, 1896), it belongs to
the 13th century, containing the tomb of Rangavuni or Vishnuvardhana,
who died in 1272-1273. The shrine proper occupies the third of three
platforms, the lowest of which forms a square of 45 to 46 ft. each
side. The building fronts the west, and is constructed of an andesitic
tuff of inferior quality and dark colour. Of distinctly Buddhistic
influence there is no trace. The makara (elephant-fish head) is
notably absent. The sculptures which run round the base and along the
sides of the platforms or terraces are of the most elaborate and
varied description--kings on thrones, dwarfs, elephants, supernatural
beings, diabolical and grotesque, tree-monsters, palaces, temples,
courtyards, lakes, gardens, forests--all are represented. In one place
appears a Chinese--or Burmese-looking seven-roofed pagoda; in another,
a tall temple strangely split down the centre, with a flight of steps
running up the fissure. The inscriptions are in the Devanagari
character. In the same neighbourhood are Ch. Singossari, Ch. Kidal,
&c. Another of the most beautiful of the eastern temples is Ch.
Jabung, mentioned in 1330. It is built of red brick; and its
distinctly Javanese origin is suggested by the frequency of the
snake-motif still characteristic of modern Javanese art. It may be
added that a comparison of the several buildings of the zone affords
an interesting study in the development of the pilaster as a
decorative rather than structural element.
At Panabaram, near Blitar, Kediri, is another group of stone temples
and other buildings. The chief temple is remarkable for the richness
of its sculptures, which are peculiarly delicate and spirited in their
details. The decoration of the mere robes of one of the free-standing
stairway-guardians consists of scroll-work, interspersed with birds
and animals rendered in a non-Indian style, reminiscent of Chinese or
Japanese work. It has been described as one of the most beautiful
pieces of sculpture in all the East.
Sculptures from the temples are scattered far and wide throughout
Java, and it is one of the greatest difficulties of the archaeologist
to determine the origin of many of the most interesting specimens.
This, too, is often the case with those that have found their way to
the museums of Java and Europe (Batavia, Leiden, Haarlem, Berlin,
&c.). Minor relics of the past are to be found alike in the palaces of
the nobles and the huts of the highland peasants. Zodiac cups of
copper or bronze dating from the 12th or 13th century are in daily use
among the Tenggerese. The musical instruments used by the musicians of
the native courts are often prized on account of their great
antiquity.
As many of the Chinese came from China centuries ago and have not
ceased to hold intercourse with their native country, the houses of
the wealthier men among them are often rich in ancient specimens of
Chinese art. The special exhibition organized by Henri Borel and other
enthusiasts showed how much of value in this matter might be brought
together in spite of the reluctance of the owners to commit the
sacrilege of exposing to public gaze the images of their ancestral
gods and heroes. Borel has given exquisite examples of images of
Kwan-yin (the Chinese Virgin-Goddess), of Buddhas, of the ghoulish god
of literature, of Lie-tai-Peh (the Chinese poet who has gone to live
in the planet Venus), &c., in illustration of his papers in _L'Art
flamand et hollandais_, pt. v. (1900), a translation of his monograph
published at Batavia.
AUTHORITIES.--Besides the special works quoted _passim_, see Sir
Stamford Raffles, _History of Java_ (London, 1830); F. Junghuhn,
_Java: seine Gestalt, Pflanzendecke, und innere Bauart_ (Ger. trans.
by J. K. Hasskarl, Leipzig, 1854-1857); P. J. Veth, _Java,
Geographisch, ethnologisch, historisch_ (2nd ed., Haarlem, 1896-1903),
a masterly compendium originally based largely on Junghuhn's
descriptions; L. van Deventer, _Geschiedenis der Nederlanders op Java_
(2nd ed., Haarlem, 1895); L. W. C. van den Berg, _Le Hadhramout et les
colonies arabes dans l'archipel indien_ (Batavia, 1886); E. R.
Scidmore, _Java, the Garden of the East_ (New York, 1898); J.
Chailley-Bert, _Java et ses habitants_ (Paris, 1900); C. Day, _The
Policy and Administration of the Dutch in Java_ (London, 1904); E. S.
de Klerck, _De Java-Oorlog van_ 1825-1830 (Batavia, 1905);
_Encyclopaedie v. N. Indië_, art. "Java;" _Guide à travers
l'Exposition de Paris_ (The Hague, 1900), with articles by specialists
on each department of the Dutch colonies, more particularly Java;
_Koloniale Verslagen en Regeerings-almanak van N. Indië_, being
official publications of the Dutch and Dutch East-Indian Government
(see also MALAY ARCHIPELAGO). (H. A. W.; O. J. R. H.)