- Senopati
Senopati (ing Alaga Sayiddin Kalifatullah Tanah Jawi) (1584-1601) (born as Sutawijaya) was the first and legendary king of the
Mataram Sultanate Kingdom. He was the son ofKi Ageng Pemanahan , one of Hadiwidjaja, the Duke ofPajang 's retainer and loyal servant, and then adopted by the Duke as his son. He was noted for killing the main opposition to the Duke, PrinceHaryo Penangsang of Jipang-Panola, the last descendant ofDemak sultanate, thus gaining victory for his godfather'sPajang kingdom. Both him and his father were granted the dukedom ofMataram , which then grew to a new sovereign kingdom and a dynasty that lasts until recent days.During his reign the kingdom still used Javanese traditions, though the
Islam already was introduced to Java. It was the JavaneseMuslim state of Pajang (and the ancient Hindu-Javanese kingdom of Mataram, still on the same site) that got in trouble when Panembahan Senopati schemed to undermine the authority of the King of Pajang. Senopati had conquered the Mataram district himself and c. 1576 he conquered the area of Pajang, imposed the new religion and established his own court. The Mataram ruler refused to embrace the Islam and many historiographical problems surrounded Senopati's reign. Like he concentrated his spiritual powers through meditation and ascetism. So Senopati's reliance upon both Sunan Kalijaga andNyai Loro Kidul in the chronicles accounts nicely reflects the Mataram Dynasty's ambivalence towards Islam and indigenous Javanese beliefs. The straight line betweenMount Merapi at the north and the southern sea, with the Mataram kingdom at the center was s strong concept of cosmology among the Javanese.His grandson
Sultan Agung (the Great Sultan, 1613 - 1645) was described as a great Muslim ruler and who was claimed as the greatest of Mataram's rulers. Fact|date=June 2008 Though both (Senopati and Sultan Agung) established a liaison with the Goddess of the Southern Ocean ofNyai Loro Kidul . [Ricklefs, M.C.(1993) "A History of Modern Indonesia since c. 1300". The Macmillan Press second edition. ISBN 0-333-57690-X]References
* Koentjaraningrat. "Javanese Culture". Oxford University Press, Singapore Oxford New York 1990. ISBN 0 19 588907 X
Notes
External links
* [http://www.joglosemar.co.id/mataramking.html The Mataram Kingdom & Royal Palaces - in English]
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