Page 111 - INDONESIAN ISLAMIC CULTURE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

particularly in Banten, political expansion half of the 16 century, with the new it guaranteed the continuing process world after the fall of Malacca to the
th
and Islamization had succeeded not only sultanate had to face a number of royal of Islamization at the community level Portuguese. The merchants were
in thwarting the most powerful alliance political conflicts, tinged by pre-Islamic because it was in line with the ongoing looking for new environments in the
between the Portuguese in Malacca and Javanese political traditions as Pajang process of cultural adaptability. Indeed, eastern parts of the archipelago for their
Pajajaran in Pakuan, the ruler of Banten, and subsequently Mataram. Mataram Mataram’s political determination had trading activities, however in the process
Sultan Hasanuddin, even managed to foundation can be seen as the inception spawned sharp conflicts as it had ended they also played importants rules in
beat Pajajaran. In 1527 this victory was of the sort of Islam that suited the the domination of coastal Islam, being established new economic and political
further coupled with the success of demands of Javanese culture. Growing considered as representing Islam’s centers. The kingdoms prospered in
conquering Sunda Kelapa the area was on an agricultural basis, Javanese culture urban and cosmopolitan culture, and put line with their active involvement in the
later named Jayakarta (or Jakarta today). put more emphasis on a centralized forward the dominant form of Javanese ever-increasing maritime trade and with
power center, the mono-palace, unlike Islam, which is often seen as “syncretic”. Islamization. The latter point is proved
An almost similar pattern of policy was the coastal culture of Demak, which However, as many historians noted, by the presence of three Malay religious
also conducted in the regions of East acknowledged the existence of poly- the establishment of Mataram also scholars who introduced Islam to the
Java. The kingdom of Demak allowed palaces and thus of various centers of means the intensification of Islam in the kingdom of Goa-Tallo. They were Abdul
Kudus and Jepara to remain relatively power. Mataram represented an empire formulation of the identity of Javanese Makmur who was well-known by the
independent, and it offered the free that based on the Javanese culture of culture. Islam had become crucial for the epithet Datuk ri Bandang, Sulaiman or
hands to Sunan Kudus and Ratu the interior. Sultan Agung (1613-1646), royal political system or at the very least, Datuk Patimang and Abdul Jawad or
Kalinyamat to proceed with the program Mataram’s greatest king, is credited with Islamic symbols had become part of the Datuk ri Tiro. According to Anthony Reid,
of Islamization. Next to Demak, Kudus the most merit in basing his kingdom on political foundation of the kingdom. The they had been sent by Aceh and actually
developed into a the renowned Islamic the Javanese cultural style. Thus, the next ruler, Amangkurat IV (1719-1724), at the request of Muslim merchants who
centers. Sunan Kudus, was also a very destruction of the Islamic power centers proclaimed himself as the “God’s vice- had been living in Goa-Tallo.
influential Muslim figure who contributed on Java’s north coast by the Mataram regent on earth” as expressed in his
to the spread of Islam in Java. Sunan ruler, Amangkurat I (1646-1677), was title kalipatullah, a title derived from the After I Mangarangi Daeng Manriba,
Kudus was one the “Nine Saints” (Wali merely a Javanese culture call that Islamic political tradition. the king of Goa-Tallo, had converted
Sanga) Similar attempts were also made required the establishment of only one to Islam in 1605, he added the title
by Sunan Giri in Gresik, so that the area power center. Turning to other areas, a more intensive Sultan Tumenga ri Gaukanna to his
developed into a center of trade and process of Islamization took place name and the Islamization process
Islamization at the eastern end of Java The important role of Mataram’s in the in Sulawesi and Maluku after the in Sulawesi continued with the king’s
and further on to the island of Lombok in process of Islamization may be explained establishment of two leading Islamic political support. The king of Goa-Tallo
in its successful integration of Islam into
seems to have strongly supported the
kingdoms in the Eastern Archipelago:
Nusa Tenggara.
the more overall system of Javanese Goa-Tallo and Ternate. It is noteworthy Islamization in several small kingdoms
The policy of Demak did not seem culture, as well as in the core of the that the development of these kingdoms in the region. In 1611, for example,
to have been an effective political centralized Javanese-royal political coincided with the massive exodus the ruler of Bone, Latenrirua, and his
mechanism in Java. In the second system. This means that simultaneously of Muslim merchants from the Malay people accepted Islam after the king

100 Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives 101