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to one expert was a “single society”    tartib, the traditional provision, allowed,   central palace in order to solve the   a religious leader--- is understandable.
 30
 ---although not a “single culture”, was   the Sultan would always be facing a   problem of political legitimacy and in   He was known as Sultan Agung, and
 determined by its genealogical bonds   lawsuit. Nevertheless, the lawsuit was   order to maintain continuity. Without   he had earned the title of Sultan after
 with these first kings. Without this bond,   never directed at the “sanctity of the   this legitimacy and continuity, the new   he Islamized various social institutions
 no datu or regional head, and especially   sultanate institution”.It is here, Majul   central palace would only be able to   including marriage. He was not only
 no sultan, would have been recognized.   said, “that the awareness of Muslims   depend on its military and economic   the ruler of the world, but also the
 This means that he is the proof of tarsila   is found, who tend to feel the need of   power. However, this would boil down   panatagama, the protector and regulator
 and that he was the descendant of the   having a sultan”. In other words, a datu   of religion. 33
 Prophet ---his title sayyid or sharif (from   would never challenge the Sultan’s   to having become a small but more   The Javanese tradition increasingly
 the lineage of Hasan or Hussein) was a   position of supreme religious leader.    powerful minor palace rather than the   displayed the form it had taken after the
 31
 requirement.  Indeed, Malay, traditional political   new central palace.  Therefore, not   political hegemony of Java shifted from
 Although Sulu (compared with   thinking not only cursed disobedience   only a political myth should be given its   coastal Demak, to the hinterland ---first
 Maguindanao and Maranao with its   towards the sovereign, it also precluded   place in the changing situation, as far as   to Pajang and finally to Mataram. An
 many centers) had reached the highest   a situation where there would be no king   possible,  old structural arrangements   important consequence of this move
 level of unification, its political system   at all, something unimaginable situation   and the social and cultural lifestyle   of the power center to the interior was
 allowed for the possibility of competition   in this tradition. 32  of the ancient regime also had to be   the separation of the three major social
 for the position of Sultan. When   Thus, the tradition of integration was   maintained. The old concept that power   institutions that used to support Demak
 recognized as Sultan and thus as “God’s   based on the cultural recognition   was something that descended on the   and the other coastal principalities.
 Caliph on earth”, the institution of ruma   that power was the ideological basis   elected person, should remain in force.   These three institutions were the palace
 bicara (consisting of the influential datu,   as determined by Islam. Although   This power concept gave the new palace   as the center of power, the market as
 the crown prince and the dignitaries   structurally power was divided into   ruler his legitimate basis and formed the   center of commerce and the boarding
 of the kingdom) prevented him from   traditional and religious, both were   ideological basis for the monopoly of   school as center of religion.  In the
                                                                          34
 becoming a tyrant and his political   integrated in the king who was the   power. The ruler might not have fallen   process of establishing itself as the
 authority was not infrequently quetioned   commander of the faithful, i.e. the Muslim   from the sky, such as the descendants   owner of the newly established political
 by the datus, the local aristocracy. Each   leader (amirul mukminin).  hegemony, Mataram, which was an
 time a datu thought the Sultan had   of the to Manurung in South Sulawesi,   agricultural stage, militarily conquered
 overstepped his sovereign prerogatives   A different style of tradition developed in   but light (teja and wahyu cakraningrat)   the dynamic trading centers in the
 in politics and the economy or when he   Java. In its concentric political system,   had descended onto him. With this he   coastal regions one by one. All this
 felt that it had gone beyond what the   It required the establishment of a new   was destined to be the center of the   occurred at a time when the VOC already
 30.  Melvin Mednick, “Some problems of Moro   31.  Majul, Muslims in the Philippines, p. 317-337.   universe and the source of power. Within   had commercial and political interests in
 History and Political Organization” quoted by Peter   104.   this framework, the King of Mataram’s
 G. Cowing, Muslim Filipinos Heritage and Horizon,   32.  See A.C. Milner, Kerajaan: Malay Political   choice in 1624 of the title Susuhunan   33.  H.J. de Graaf, Puncak Kekuasaan Mataram
 Quezon City: 1979: New Day Publishers, 1979, p.   Culture on the Eve of Colonial Rule, Tucson: The   (translation), Jakarta: Grafitti Press, 1985.
 45-46.  University of Arizona Press, 1982, p. 94-111.  ---a title commonly used by a saint or   34.  Abdullah, Islam dan Masyarakat, pp.  110-158.



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